On September 7, 2021, after a months-long investigation and with the assistance of alert citizens, Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Corey Auger, 32, on Hilton Head Island for a series of recent property crimes that occurred in Northern and Southern Beaufort County.
As of today, he remained in the Beaufort County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond for multiple offenses.
U-Haul with Stolen Property Recovered
On June 29, 2021, Sheriff’s Office received a tip that a U-Haul parked on Squire Pope Road, Hilton Head, contained stolen property.
Inside the U-Haul, investigators found two motorcycles, a portable cement mixer, cabinetry, irrigation supplies, tires and miscellaneous tools.
Investigators contacted the owner of the motorcycles and learned they had been stored in a storage unit at 3 Cardinal Court. The owner was not aware they had been stolen.
When investigators met with representatives of the storage facility and toured the facility, it was discovered that two of the facility’s units had had their locks cut off. One of those units was where the motorcycles had been stored. The other unit had contained most of the remaining property recovered from the U-Haul.
Through interviews, investigators developed 32-year-old Corey Auger of Bluffton as a person of interest.
St. Helena Island Burglary
Last month, a burglary was reported on St. Helena Island, in which a scooter and other items were stolen.
Sheriff’s Office investigators received information that, again, Corey Auger was involved.
On August 23, investigators attempted to locate an associate of Auger at a residence on Bonaire Circle in Burton. While there, investigators found a scooter in the yard and confirmed it as the stolen scooter from St. Helena.
Between August 23 and August 25, investigators served search warrants on the Bonaire Circle residence and its property. There, they recovered additional items that had been taken in the St. Helena burglary, as well as numerous items believed to have been stolen in other incidents.
On August 25, after connecting the property stolen in the St. Helena burglary to Auger, investigators met with a Beaufort County magistrate and obtained an arrest warrant for Auger for Receiving Stolen Goods.
Also that day, Auger, who at the time was incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center on unrelated charges from the Town of Port Royal Police Department, was served with the arrest warrant. A bond hearing was held in Magistrate’s Court on August 26 and Auger was released on his own recognizance.
In the days that followed, investigators researched the origins of the property recovered from Bonaire Circle.
Investigators traced several household items, including high-end dinnerware, to a Hilton Head Island woman who had stored the items in a unit at 3 Cardinal Court — the same storage facility from where the items found on the U-Haul in June had been stolen.
Like the owners of those two units, the woman was unaware her storage unit had been burglarized.
Additionally, investigators traced a motorcycle that had been recovered at Bonaire Circle to yet another unit at 3 Cardinal Court.
Investigators again met with representatives of the storage facility and again discovered two more units with their locks cut off.
Stolen Jet Skis
On the morning of August 30, a resident in the Point Comfort area of Hilton Head observed a male subject on a Jet Ski towing two Jet Skis on Broad Creek.
Sensing that something was suspicious, the resident got in his boat and followed the man towing the Jet Skis.
As they traveled toward Daufuskie Island, the resident reported that the man cut the tow line to the two Jet Skis and fled on the Jet Ski he was riding.
The resident soon lost sight of the man but was able to recover and tow the two Jet Skis to Palmetto Bay Marina.
After contacting the owners of the Jet Skis, investigators determined that one of the recovered Jet Skis had been reported stolen July 24 from a business parking lot near Indigo Run. The other recovered Jet Ski was one of two that had just been stolen from a dock on Brams Point.
It was also learned that the subject riding the Jet Ski may have been at Palmetto Bay Marina the previous day on the Jet Ski that had been stolen near Indigo Run. Investigators interviewed witnesses, reviewed footage from video surveillance and identified the subject on the Jet Ski as Corey Auger.
Investigators met with a Beaufort County magistrate and obtained warrants for Auger’s arrest for three counts of Receiving Stolen Goods regarding the Jet Ski thefts near Indigo Run and Brams Point.
Thefts Reported over Weekend Tied to Corey Auger
On September 3, several storage units on Yacht Cove Drive on Hilton Head were broken into and various items, including a revolver, were stolen.
On the morning of September 5, employees of Palmetto Dunes reported that they found an abandoned Bobcat utility vehicle stuck in the dunes near the golf course.
Later that morning, employees of Port Royal golf maintenance reported that a Bobcat utility vehicle and trailer had been stolen; the stolen Bobcat was the one found earlier in Palmetto Dunes.
Also on September 5, employees of Shelter Cove Marina reported that an Atlas Transit tricycle and a utility golf cart had been stolen sometime overnight.
On September 6, employees of the Greenery reported that a Kubota utility vehicle equipped with a GPS and trailer were stolen from their parking lot.
Through its GPS, the Kubota was tracked behind the Fresh Market Shoppes, where deputies found Corey Auger with the stolen Kubota.
When deputies attempted to apprehend Auger, he ran and escaped through an opening in the chain link fence behind the shops.
In the Kubota, deputies found that Auger had left behind burglary tools and methamphetamine.
Deputies obtained warrants from a Beaufort County magistrate for Auger’s arrest for Receiving Stolen Goods, Possession of Burglary Tools, Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fleeing to Evade Arrest.
Arrest of Corey Auger
On September 7, two Shelter Cove Marina employees familiar with the September 5 theft of the Atlas Transit tricycle observed the tricycle in the parking lot of 10 Yacht Cove Drive.
The employees saw a male subject unloading items from the basket of the tricycle and walking into a residence.
The employees called dispatch for Sheriff’s Office deputies to respond. As deputies responded, one of the employees knocked on the door of the residence, while the other walked around the back.
When the employee got to the back of the residence, he encountered Corey Auger outside and a struggle ensued. The employees were able to subdue Auger, until deputies arrived.
Deputies took Auger into custody on the seven arrest warrants and recovered the Atlas Transit tricycle.
Following his arrest, Auger was interviewed by investigators regarding the burglaries and thefts.
Interview of Corey Auger and Recovery of More Stolen Property
Information provided by Auger led investigators to the locations and recoveries of additional stolen property.
On Hilton Head, the trailer stolen from the Greenery was recovered behind the Red Roof Inn, the utility golf cart stolen from the Shelter Cove Marina was found behind the Days Inn and items stolen from the storage units at 5 Yacht Cove Drive, including the revolver, were recovered at the 10 Yacht Cove Drive residence where Auger had been arrested on September 7.
Near Gascoigne Bluff in Bluffton, investigators recovered the other Jet Ski stolen from the Brams Point dock.
Following his interview, Auger was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center and incarcerated.
Additional Charges on Corey Auger
After Auger’s arrest on September 7, Sheriff’s Office investigators met with a magistrate and obtained additional warrants for his arrest for Receiving Stolen Goods on items recovered on Bonaire Circle in Burton in connection with the following incidents:
- A golf cart that was reported stolen on August 11 from Mallard Street, Hilton Head
- The motorcycle that had been stolen from a storage unit on 3 Cardinal Court, Hilton Head, between the end of June and August
- The high-end dinnerware and other household items stolen from a storage unit on 3 Cardinal Court, Hilton Head, between the end of June and August
- An enclosed utility trailer that had been stolen from Jasper County
Investigators will also be seeking warrants for Auger in connection with this past weekend’s numerous thefts and recovered items on Hilton Head, which include:
- The revolver and other items reported stolen from the storage facility at 5 Yacht Cove Drive
- The Kubota utility vehicle and trailer stolen from the Greenery
- The Bobcat and trailer stolen from Port Royal Golf Maintenance
- The golf cart and Atlas Transit tricycle stolen from Shelter Cove Marina
Corey Auger’s Charges and Court Information
At the time of his September 7 arrest, Auger was out on bond and scheduled for General Session Court for illegal drug charges from February, as well as the August 25 stolen property.
Following his most recent incarceration, Auger was taken before a Beaufort County magistrate and issued a $100,000 bond for the 11 new charges: eight counts of Receiving Stolen Goods, one count of Possession of Burglary Tools, one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and one count of Fleeing to Evade Arrest.
Auger will face additional charges for this past weekend’s Hilton Head property crimes when arrest warrants are obtained.
As of the time of the advisory, Auger remains incarcerated.
Anyone who has information regarding these investigations is encouraged to contact Sergeant Adam Paul at 843-255-3317 or submit a tip here.
Crime to Courtroom
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Sheriff P.J. Tanner and the men and women of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office appreciate your partnership in the safety of our community.
