Lowcountry residents are still talking about 38-year-old Phillip DeClemente whose standoff and suicide attempt on the Ravenel Bridge backed up traffic for hours Thursday.
Police gave DeClemente a citation for reckless driving, but some in the community think that the charge is not enough.
News 2 spoke to former South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon.
"My word; It really was a serious matter from the standpoint of effecting people's lives," Condon said.
The question now, should DeClemente face criminal charges?
"You can't cut this otherwise. It's a crime to go onto the Ravenel Bridge and block traffic for hours. We have to decide what the appropriate charges are," Condon said.
"Probably the most likely charge, if they decide to bring one, which I think they really should, would be a malicious injury charge and of course a reckless driving traffic offense," Condon said.
Condon said that DeClemente's ramming his vehicle into the bridge could carry a charge.
"A number of potential charges come to mind. The main one being malicious injury to personal property... hitting the side of the bridge," he said.
"If the damage is simply over $2,000 it could be a 5 year felony," Condon added.
We also wondered about the words painted on DeClemente's vehicle -- words like "stay away," "back off," "game over" and "happy now." Are those considered threats?
"It's probably protected under the first amendment," he said.
Phillip DeClemente is not expected in court until March 21, 2012.
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