Shooting suspect tried jailbreak, officials say

Bluffton tow-truck operator Preston Oates, jailed after a fatal shooting Christmas Eve, attempted to break out of the Beaufort County Detention Center last weekend, according to authorities.

Oates, 27, was charged Monday by Beaufort police with malicious injury to property and attempted escape after trying to break the window of his cell Sunday with a part from a light fixture, said Phil Foot, the jail's director.

While on routine patrol outside of the jail, a guard heard Oates trying to cut out the bottom half of the window with the metal faceplate from the cell's light switch, Foot said.

"The officer heard a strange noise and saw what window the noise was coming from," Foot said. "Those windows are not made of glass, so they're not breakable. They're made of a corrections-grade material, and (Oates) was attempting to grind that plate against the bottom of the window to cut it."

Beaufort Police Chief Matt Clancy said Oates was never close to escaping but did about $2,000 in damage to his cell.

Foot said Oates probably will have an administrative hearing Thursday to determine what penalties he will face as a result of the attempted escape.

Those sanctions could include placing Oates in maximum security, Foot said.

If convicted, Oates faces up to 15 years in prison for trying to escape and up to 30 days in prison for damaging his cell, according to state law.

Oates, co-owner of Pro Tow, was charged with voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime for allegedly shooting and killing Bluffton resident Carlos Alberto Olivera, 34, on Christmas Eve.

The shooting occurred after an argument over a wheel boot Oates put on Olivera's minivan, which was parked outside a home in the Edgefield neighborhood near Bluffton, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office. Oates was confronted by Olivera's family and friends. Oates said he would remove the boot for $300, according to authorities.

The argument escalated, and Olivera was shot six times -- four times in the back, once in the arm and once in the head -- with a .40-caliber Glock pistol, according to the Solicitor's Office.

Oates has been in the county jail since Dec. 27 and was denied bond on the manslaughter charge during a hearing Jan. 28.

If convicted, Oates faces up to 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and at least five years in prison on the weapons charge, according to state law.