Man Charged in 2012 Hit and Run

A Sullivan's Island restaurant worker has been arrested and charged with a 2012 hit and run that injured a cyclist along Ben Sawyer Blvd.

Robert Alexander McLaurin, 34, of North Charleston is charged with a number offenses related to the May 2012 incident near Buddy Roe’s Shrimp Shack, according to Mount Pleasant police.

A 42-year-old man was injured in the accident, police said. The victim told police that he parked his bicycle in the median after dropping his wallet. Money had apparently been blown from his wallet into the roadway. The victim's friend drove behind him with his hazard lights flashing.

The suspect allegedly passed the vehicle and struck the victim in the roadway, police say. McLaurin is accused of then backing up and fleeing the accident scene. He led officers on a chase and eventually crashed his vehicle on South Shadow Drive in Mount Pleasant.

Police used police dogs to track the man's scent, but eventually lost his trail. Efforts to connect the vehicle to the operator were unsuccessful until the victim's lawyer reviewed evidence collected from the vehicle.

A receipt was found in the vehicle that listed the suspect's name. Police arrested McLaurin at Dunleavy's Pub last week.

He has been charged with failure to stop for blue lights, leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident of an unattended vehicle and third offense driving under suspension, according to police records.