NORTH CHARLESTON — Charleston entrepreneur Eric Bowman is a danger to the community who will remain in jail, a judge decided after a bond hearing last week. Bowman faces two pending charges related to alleged conduct he committed against his now-estranged wife.
Bowman, 45, was out of jail on a harassment charge when he was rearrested last month after a video surfaced of a 2016 confrontation between him and the alleged victim.
The software engineer, who once owned the Charleston Battery professional soccer team, was charged with first-degree domestic violence and booked into the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center on Aug. 20.
Circuit Judge Donald Hocker decided Bowman will remain in jail, according to an order filed in court records on Sept. 23.
His decision came after his estranged wife made an emotional plea in court last week to keep Bowman behind bars for her safety. Bowman sought bail on the most recent charge while the prosecutor sought to have the bail set for the harassment charge revoked.
“Your honor, I am begging you: protect me, protect my family and protect the authority of your orders,” Britton said. “Do not give him another chance to prove that nothing, and no one, can stop him.”
Bowman was charged in August after the State Law Enforcement Division discovered video from a September 2016 confrontation between Bowman and his now estranged wife.
SLED came across the evidence while investigating claims from U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, who accused Bowman and three others of being sexual predators in a House speech earlier this year. All of the men have vehemently denied Mace’s allegations.
The SLED agent reportedly shared the video with the alleged victim who then filed a criminal complaint with the Sullivan’s Island Police Department, according to an incident report.
The video that led to Bowman’s arrest begins by showing a man and a woman arguing in a dark room, The Post and Courier has previously reported. A slapping sound is heard, and then the woman accuses the man of kicking her in the face, punching and choking her.
After the lights have come on, the video shows the man grabbing the woman by her hair and forcing her to the floor. He then walks outside.
If convicted of first-degree domestic violence, Bowman could face up to 10 years in prison.
When Bowman was arrested in August, he was already facing pending charges from April. He was accused of placing a tracking device on his wife’s car during summer 2024, authorities have said. A stalking charge has since been dismissed.
In a social media response, Bowman accused her of “weaponizing the judicial system” and said he had not spoken with her since November 2023.
After the Sept. 19 bond hearing, Hocker found that Bowman violated his bond conditions.
Bowman is founder and president of the Stream Live media platform. He also started and served as the former CEO of SPARC, which developed software for federal and defense contractors. The company was sold in 2015.
Bowman owned the Battery for three tumultuous years. He bought the team and MUSC Health Stadium from club founder Tony Bakker for $8.4 million in 2016 and sold the stadium on Daniel Island in 2019 to Holder Properties for $6.4 million.
Last year, Bowman was hit with a $4.66 million verdict after he was accused of assaulting a man with a golf cart following a dispute over an unpaid tab totaling $124 at a Sullivan’s Island bar in 2018.