Cops: Man Late for Cruise Hits Wife With Car

Couple refused boarding in NYC tried to drive to Florida
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 26, 2014 12:21 AM CDT
Cops: Man Late for Cruise Ran Over Wife
Barber, 48, was arrested in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.   (Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office)

After a flight, a desperate drive for hundreds of miles, and an alleged attempted murder, Michael Barber of South Carolina still missed his cruise and may now miss quite a few years of freedom. Police say that after Barber and his wife flew to New York to embark on a Caribbean cruise, they were turned away from the ship because they didn't have their passports on them, the Times and Democrat reports. In an effort to still make it, they then rented a car, intending to grab what they needed in Fort Mill, SC, then drive the remaining 530 miles to Port Canaveral, Fla., to catch the Bahamas-bound ship there, reports the New York Daily News.

But around 1:45am Monday, some 120 miles into the South Carolina-to-Florida leg, police say the couple started arguing at a South Carolina rest stop; his wife told police her husband accused her of cheating on him. She says Barber, 48, then stabbed her in the neck with a box cutter and hit her with the rental car as she tried to get away. She was able to get assistance and was taken to the hospital, while Barber was busted at a nearby restaurant, the Charlotte Observer reports. He is being held without bond on charges of attempted murder and weapons possession during a violent crime, and faces up to 30 years in prison. (More stabbing stories.)

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