Alleged DUI driver causes $5K in damage in crash outside Bluffton school, police say
A 21-year-old woman was charged with driving under the influence after allegedly driving her SUV into a tree and a fence near a Bluffton middle school earlier this month, police say.
The driver, a Bluffton resident, was charged with driving under the influence in the early morning hours of May 7, according to inmate records.
After receiving a report of a reckless driver swerving “all over the roadway” near the intersection of Bluffton Parkway and S.C. 170 (Okatie Highway) around 10:30 p.m. on May 6, police said they found the woman’s Toyota 4Runner “halfway on the sidewalk” beside the road leading to River Ridge Academy, according to an incident report from the Bluffton Police Department.
The 4Runner had heavy front-end damage, the report says, and the officer noted the SUV “struck the curb again” as the driver allegedly attempted to drive toward the public magnet school.
After pulling the car over, the officer noted the driver was holding down the accelerator pedal despite the vehicle being in park. The woman allegedly smelled of alcohol, slurred her words and urinated herself after the officer helped her sit down on a nearby curb, the incident report says.
The driver refused to perform field sobriety tests and later declined to submit to a breathalyzer, police wrote in the report.
River Ridge Academy’s school resource officer told police the next day the driver had allegedly caused $5,000 in damage by striking a fence and tree shortly before the traffic stop, the report says.
Suspect’s license gets suspended
A woman who initially called police to report the reckless driving later told police she first saw the 4Runner on Bluffton Parkway near The Elle apartments. The SUV’s speeds were “varied” and the vehicle struck the curb on both sides of the highway multiple times, the witness was documented saying in the police report.
Because she refused a breathalyzer test, the 21-year-old’s license was suspended under South Carolina’s implied consent law, police noted. An officer also wrote in the report that the 21-year-old driver had a pending DUI charge out of Georgia from February.
The driver was released from the Beaufort County Detention Center the morning of May 7 on a $992 personal recognizance bond, meaning she will not be required to pay the amount unless she violates court conditions.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 4:25 PM.
