Car went airborne before crashing during 120+ mph Hilton Head chase, police say
A teenager’s sports car caught air after hitting a curb during a high-speed police chase that ended in his arrest on Hilton Head Island over the weekend, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver, a 19-year-old from Bluffton, was charged Sunday with reckless driving, failure to stop for blue lights and driving without a license, Beaufort County court records show. All three offenses are misdemeanors.
It was around 12:45 a.m. Sunday when a sheriff’s deputy tried pulling over a Chevrolet Camaro driving at an “extremely high” speed on U.S. Highway 278 (William Hilton Parkway) near the Hilton Head Island Airport, according to an incident report.
The approximately five-mile police chase led the deputy down the eastern side of Hilton Head on U.S. 278 as the suspect allegedly exceeded speeds of 120 mph, the report says.
Reaching the Sea Pines traffic circle, the Camaro lost control and hit a curb — a collision “so violent” that it lifted the sports car into the air, the deputy wrote. The Camaro then swerved onto a concrete median and briefly drifted onto the wrong side of the road before colliding with another curb and crashing into the woodline near the entrance to Walgreens, according to the incident report.
Both occupants in the Camaro then surrendered to deputies, the report claims, and the driver was arrested. Police claim they found about a gram of marijuana inside the vehicle, which the driver allegedly admitted was his.
What the driver told police
The driver of the Camaro allegedly said the marijuana was one reason he failed to stop for police, along with feeling scared and “just being stupid,” the police report claimed the teen said.
The juvenile passenger was not criminally charged and had been trying to tell the driver to stop for the extent of the police chase, the report said. He was released to the custody of his mother.
Records show the 19-year-old driver was released from the Beaufort County jail early Sunday afternoon on multiple personal recognizance bonds, meaning he will not be required to pay the amounts unless he violates court conditions.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol assumed control of the investigation into Sunday morning’s collision, the police report said.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette do not publish the names of individuals who were charged with misdemeanor crimes unless the accused is a public figure or if revealing their name is a matter of public interest.
