By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A Beaufort man is facing a felony assault charge after allegedly throwing a woman from a moving vehicle on Lady’s Island Highway on Thursday, March 6, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Robert Manuel Martin, 48, was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Deputies responded to the scene near the intersection of Sea Island Parkway (U.S. 21) and Airport Circle at around 1 a.m. on Thursday morning.
At the scene, near the entrance to the Beaufort Executive Airport and the Lady’s Island Walmart, deputies found a woman who had serious injuries from hitting the pavement after being thrown from a moving car. The woman told deputies that Martin had thrown her from his vehicle.
The woman was taken to the hospital, and Martin was arrested later in the day after being pulled over for a traffic stop. He was also charged with driving with an open container of alcohol and possession of cocaine according to Beaufort County Detention Center records.
Circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation.
Martin was released Friday after paying $30,000 in surety bonds.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
