Bond denied for man accused of hitting 3 on Sullivan’s Island

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The man accused of hitting three people with a vehicle on Sullivan’s Island and sparking an hours-long manhunt was denied bond Friday morning.

Justin Collin Adams, 36, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree assault and battery following a crash outside Sunrise Presbyterian Church that injured an adult and two children Thursday afternoon.

Police said in court that Adams used the vehicle as a weapon to intentionally target children. They said he left the street and drove onto a playground where he struck a 12-year-old, causing minor injuries.

Officers said he then left the playground and hit a teacher, causing her to fly over the hood of the vehicle. Adams continued to the sidewalk and struck a 10-year-old, leaving him pinned under the vehicle.

The vehicle stopped once the airbags deployed, and Adams ran off. He was eventually found hiding in a boat across from the church following an hours-long, multi-agency manhunt on the island.

Attorneys argued that Adams had no criminal history and was a voluntary patient at a local psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with depression roughly two weeks before the Sullivan’s Island incident.

The judge set Adams’s bond for the assault and battery charge at $100,000; however, she denied bond on the attempted murder charges. He must appear before a circuit court judge at a later date.

He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims, their families, and is forbidden to return within a 5-mile radius of the incident location.