Crew find bodies of 2 kids buried at N.C. worksite

Emergency crews early Monday found the bodies of two young children who were buried by a wall of dirt at a home construction site in rural North Carolina, The Charlotte Observer reported.

The newspaper said Lincoln County crews located the bodies of the 7-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl shortly before daybreak, but were moving cautiously to recover them because of the danger of a new cave-in. 

Crews found them at a level of about 15 feet in the hole that originally was about 25 feet deep.

The father of one of the children called 911 to report the incident at about 6 p.m. on Sunday, Lincoln County Emergency Services public information officer Dion Burleson said of the rescue effort turned recovery operation.

Neighbors stood by in disbelief as dozens of fire trucks spent hours trying to get to the 7-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl.

"We worked as if they were alive," Burleson told The Observer Sunday evening. "Times like these are very difficult. It's devastating for the family and each and every responder."

Crews at the Denver neighborhood placed a safety barrier around the pit and used shovels and climbing gear to try and reach the children, trapped about 20 feet underground, according to WSOC-TV. 

Some 65 emergency personnel from several places, including nearby Charlotte, were on the scene.

A neighbor told The Observer that a family member building a new home at the site had been digging with a backhoe there earlier in the day. The children were trapped in the hole later when part of it caved in. 

Burleson said an investigation was under way. He said he didn't have information on construction permits at the site. 

"This is a tragic night in Denver," Burleson said.

 Contributing: The Associated Press

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

Rock Hill police chase ends in crash, foot pursuit

Officers on a routine patrol on East Main Street shortly after midnight noticed a gray 1990 Buick with a paper tag travelling without headlights on, according to a Rock Hill Police report. Police activated their lights for a traffic stop, but the car moved to the right side of the roadway, turned left onto Workman Street before crossing onto Black Street.

Police pursued the driver, Lindsey Phillips Jr., 45, as he drove onto Flint Street Extension before turning onto Marshall Street, where he crashed into a telephone pole and a storm drain, the report states.

Phillips got out the car and began running behind several houses and jumping fences, the report states. Other officers arrived and combed the area before a policeman found Phillips hiding behind a shed on Marshall Street.

He was arrested and charged with failing to stop for blue lights and driving under suspension, the report states. He is held at the York County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond.

Rock Hill police shoot, kill ‘vicious’ pit bull trying to attack kids

ROCK HILL A Rock Hill Police officer shot and killed a pit bull last week after neighbors complained that the dog chased an elderly man, tried to bite an animal control officer and attempted to attack several children, according to a Rock Hill Police report.

Police on Friday evening were dispatched to Williamson Street, off Ogden Road, to assist York County Animal Control with detaining a “vicious dog,” the report states. The animal control officer told police that he was sent to the area to deal with an aggressive pit bull.

When he arrived, he said the animal was chasing an elderly man in a yard, the report states. When the animal control officer tried to capture the dog, it ran and tried to attack several children in a nearby yard.

The officer made the children go inside and, as he tried to capture the dog, it tried to bite him several times, the report states.

The police officer on the scene received permission from a sergeant to shoot the dog, the report states. Police and the animal control officer were able to lure the pit bull away from residents before the policeman shot the dog twice with a rifle, killing it.

The dog’s owner could not be found at the time of the report, documents say.

Fort Mill man dies after motorcycle crash on I-77

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/20/3927637/man-dies-after-motorcycle-crash.html#storylink=cpy

ROCK HILL A Fort Mill man who fell from his motorcycle on Interstate 77 on Friday has died, Highway Patrol officials said Wednesday.

Austin Camp, 40, was traveling southbound on I-77 near Dave Lyle Boulevard around 10 p.m. when he fell off the motorcycle, said Lance Cpl. Billy Elder with the Highway Patrol.

He was not wearing a helmet. Camp was travelling by himself, Elder said, and no other injuries were reported.

He was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, Elder said.

York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said Camp, who lived on Harris Road in Fort Mill, died in Charlotte on Tuesday. An exact cause of death was not available.

The crash is still under investigation.

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

Police: 3 pit bulls jump fence, attack Rock Hill man

ROCK HILL — Three pit bulls jumped the fence at a Rock Hill home and attacked a man who was walking by, according to a Rock Hill police report.

The 24-year-old victim said he was walking along Oates Street around 10 p.m. Tuesday when the dogs jumped the fence and chased him. He tried to fend them off, but they knocked him down and bit his hand, the report states.

EMS responded and said he needed stitches and a shot.

The dogs' owner, 29-year-old Travis Hughes, who was not home when the dogs jumped the fence, was cited with violation of a dog ordinance (vicious pets). Animal Control picked up the dog that bit the man.

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

Lexington man, 19, killed in collision with ambulance

A 19-year-old Lexington man is dead after his truck apparently swerved into the path of an ambulance on Edmund Highway early Tuesday.

Ambulance driver Hugh Davis was heading east on the road, also known as SC 302, around 1:19 a.m. when a westbound GMC truck entered his lane, SC Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Judd Jones said.

The truck driver has not yet been identified by the Lexington County Coroner’s Office.

Davis, 30, was wearing a seat belt and not injured when the ambulance struck the right side of the truck. A passenger in the ambulance, Samuel Potts, 26, also was belted and not injured.

The truck driver was not wearing a seat belt and died at the scene, Jones said.

The collision remains under investigation by the highway patrol.

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

Fatal car wreck reported on interstate in Chapin

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC — One man is dead after car wreck Monday morning on I-26 near Chapin.

The 51-year-old man was traveling east on I-26 at 10:50 a.m. when he ran off the road and hit a tree, said Lance Cpl. Brent Kelly of the S.C. Highway Patrol. He was wearing a seat belt as he was driving a 2007 Ford Edge.

The car caught fire, and witnesse were able to remove the man from the burning car. But he died at the scene from his injuries.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the man to drive off the road, Kelly said.

The driver’s identity has not been released.

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

SC police officer hurt in wreck

ANDERSON, S.C. — An Anderson police officer has been hurt after his patrol car flipped over after a wreck.

Police Lt. Tony Tilley says officer Matt Anderson suffered minor injuries in the wreck Wednesday. Tilley says Anderson had turned on his emergency lights and siren as he was headed to a hit and run wreck when his car flipped over.

Anderson is in good condition at AnMed Health Medical Center.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol says a man turned in front of Anderson, who swerved off the road. Patrol Cpl. Billy Rhyne says the driver of the other car has been charged with failure to yield.

Anderson has been with the department for more than a year.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/03/07/4673934/anderson-police-officer-hurt-in.html

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

SC young teen driver death trend down

Deaths of South Carolina drivers ages 16 and 17 dipped slightly in 2012 compared with 2011, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety’s Office of Highway Safety.

That bucks the national trend of rising teen deaths behind the wheel.

But it is in keeping the long-range trend in South Carolina of deaths of 16- and 17-year-old drivers declining since 2003. That year, 29 16- and 17-year-olds died. In 2012, 13 died.

The topic of young driver deaths has been in the news since the Governors Highway Safety Association last month released a study indicating that deaths of young drivers had risen in much of the nation for the first six months of 2012, compared with the first six months of 2011. It predicted that in many states, young driver deaths would rise for all of 2012.

However, South Carolina defied the predictions, with teen driver deaths dropping from 14 in 2011 to 13 in 2012.

The state’s mandatory seat-belt law, which took effect for the first full year in 2006, helped reduce teen deaths, safety officials said. These days, about 60 percent of teens who die in fatal accidents aren’t buckled up. That used to be a lot higher.

But officials also attribute the decline to a multi-pronged effort, much of it financed by federal and corporate grants, that reaches tens of thousands of high school students each year, confronting them in emotionally dramatic ways to get them to change youthful reckless driving habits that could get them killed.

4 programs

The four major outreaches are:

•  Alive at 25. Begun in 2007 at 11 high schools and reaching 3,511 students that year, this intensive, 4½-hour program taught by law enforcement officers last year reached 18,284 students at 105 high schools. The program goes far beyond driving mechanics and knowledge of traffic laws, focusing instead on emotionally connecting with students to get them to change dangerous driving habits.

“It’s not a scare tactic — it’s more an emotional impact — how would your parents react if we were to knock on their door and say you aren’t coming home?” said Brooke Russell, executive director of the S.C. Chapter of the National Safety Council.

One big reason for its success might be that many schools won’t allow students to drive to school unless they have taken the course.

Alive at 25 is designed to modify teens’ risk-taking behavior. In recent years, various studies have indicated that areas of teen brains that assess risks may not be fully mature, making teens prone to act on impulse and to take unnecessary chances. Studies suggest the brain’s capacity to make good judgments on reasoning and planning matters doesn’t mature until the early or mid-20s.

Last year’s Alive at 25’s $1 million-plus costs was supported by the $35 tuition each student pays, as well as hefty grants from insurance and automotive companies and dealers. The program is sponsored by the S.C. Chapter of the National Safety Council and is modeled on programs elsewhere in the nation. Parents are encouraged to attend and sit in the back of the room. Classes average from 15-25 students.

•  Tickets. Beginning in 2009, this Office of Highway Safety program has put vivid traffic safety messages on some 5 million tickets sold at most state high school sporting and extracurricular events. The cost: $85,000 in federal funds.

“That teenage audience is a hard group to reach, with all their social media,” said Office of Highway Safety director Phil Riley, “but these get in the hands of teens and their parents and center on four major issues — drinking and driving, texting and driving, not wearing a seat belt and speeding.”

•  Simulators. Bought at a cost of more than $145,000 in federal grants over the past several years, the Highway Patrol’s three rollover simulators and one driving simulator last year reached a total of some 15,000 mostly young people.

“When a student sits down in the driving simulator, we set different programs,” said Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Bob Beres. “They find out how easy it is to be distracted and run over an object or a person, or run into a building.”

The rollover simulators spin and eject life-sized, unbuckled dummies.

•  Families of Highway Fatalities program. In this program, selected parents of young people who’ve died in avoidable traffic accidents speak to groups of students.

“The students are going to connect — they are going to think, ‘Wow, this could be my dad talking, this could be my mom sharing the story if I got killed,’” said program director Faith Turner.

Last year’s speakers appeared before 15,800 students at 47 schools.

Good news

from a recession?

Although South Carolina’s outreach efforts no doubt have a positive effect, the recession has been a major factor in declining teen driver deaths, said AAA Carolinas Traffic Safety Foundation president Tom Crosby.

“As the economy picks back up, there will be more teen deaths, because more teens will be driving more,” Crosby predicted.

Crosby said South Carolina lawmakers could take a major step in stemming teen deaths if they would adopt a graduated youth driver’s license, which would require teens to spend more time behind the wheel with their parent or guardian before turning them loose on the highway.

Turner said the important statistics are invisible: how many lives her Families of Highway Fatalities and other programs are saving because students get the message.

“Those are the numbers we will never see, but we know they are there.”

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

ROCK HILL — A 32-year-old Rock Hill woman died in a single-car accident on Hollis Lakes Road around 3:07 p.m. on Thursday.

The driver, Stephany Harrison, was ejected from her car and pronounced dead on the scene, according to York County Coroner Sabrina Gast.

A stretch of Hollis Lakes Road will remain closed until at least 6:30 p.m. Thursday because of the deadly car crash. Rock Hill Police's Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction team was on the scene investigating the accident.

The road is closed between Ebenezer to Heckle, except to local traffic, according to city officials.

Harrison was the only passenger in the Ford-150 truck she was driving, officials have said.

The wreck happened very close to Harrison's home, Gast said.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/02/28/4656751/1-dead-in-rock-hill-crash-stretch.html

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.

Car seat saves child in deadly SC crash

ELGIN, S.C. — A moment of distracted driving may have killed a young mother from Elgin but her infant daughter survived, Richland County coroner Gary Watts said Sunday.

Brittany Powell, 171 Elgin Road, 23, died at the scene a half mile from her home in a head-on collision Friday afternoon with a pickup truck, according to Watts and the S.C. Highway Patrol.

“She didn’t have on a seat belt, but her six-month-old daughter was in a child restraint seat in the back,” Watts said. “The car seat definitely saved that child.”

The daughter was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Watts said it couldn’t be determined whether Powell removed her seat belt to try to do something with her child or if she had been driving with it off.

The pickup truck driver told officers on the scene that in the seconds before the crash, he saw no one driving the car, Watts said.

The driver of the pickup, a 2000 Ford, told officers that he saw Powell’s oncoming 2007 Hyundi cross over the center land into his lane and he steered his pickup into her lane, but suddenly her car veered back into her lane and the two vehicles collided, a patrol spokesman said.

The pickup driver, Melvin Campbell of Elgin, 58, was unhurt. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time, the patrol said.

The incident is under investigation. The spokesman did not know how fast the two vehicles were going when they collided.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/02/04/4592293/car-seat-saves-child-in-deadly.html

Shaw Law Firm focuses its representation on individuals and families who have been Injured. We represent clients involved in Automobile accidents, Tractor-Trailer accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Hit and Run accidents, Drivers with no insurance accidents, Pedestrian and Bicycle accidents. We also handle claims associated with Dog Bites/Attacks, Injuries on the Job, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Home Abuse, Prescription Errors and all Injuries associated with Children.

Shaw Law Firm has a Former Prosecutor on Staff who is dedicated to representing families and individuals going through difficult situations. Divorces and persons accused of Crimes, including alcohol and drug related charges are the focus.

We serve York County, Lancaster County and Chester County and all cities within those counties including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, Lake Wylie, Tega Cay, York, Sharon, Hickory Grove, Indian Land, Catawba, Lancaster, Chester, Great Falls and Richburg. We also serve Charlotte and the entire surrounding region.