Firefighters investigated an illegal fire
Jake Shore, The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, SC)
(MCT)
January 6 – A Burton man told firefighters to “leave their damn property”. It was New Year’s afternoon and Brittany Nicotri and another Burton Fire District firefighter arrived to investigate an illegal fire on the man’s property.
The man refused to cooperate. Then, he coughed at Nicotri.
The Beaufort County sheriff’s office was called. Police officers arrested the man and took him to the Beaufort County Detention Center.
The man faces a charge of assault and third-degree assault, a misdemeanor in South Carolina and a charge of violating a municipal law on burning fires outdoors.
Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette do not cite those accused of misdemeanors.
The man was a few feet from Nicotri when he coughed at her, according to Major Bob Bromage, from the sheriff’s office.
A report from the Sheriff’s Office accuses the man of “intentionally coughing in Nicotri”. He denied doing so.
Nicotri was wearing personal protective equipment “but it was not clear whether [the man] was or was close to someone with the virus, ”said the report.
He was released from prison the next day. If convicted, the man faces up to 30 days in prison.
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