Rock Hill, Fort Mill, York SC Accidents and Injuries Legal Blog

Indian Land High grad who died in crash ‘was going places’

Thomas Russell Harris, a 2009 Indian Land High School graduate who stood out for his stellar grades, athletic ability and outgoing personality, died Saturday in a motorcycle accident.

Authorities said Harris, 21, was riding a motorcycle on U.S. 521 that evening when he drove off the road and hit a culvert pipe, which carries water from one side of the road to the other.

The S.C. Highway Patrol reported the accident over the weekend, but Harris’ identity wasn’t released until Tuesday.

Harris was taken to a Carolinas Medical Center in Waxhaw, N.C., where he died from injuries related to the accident.

Lancaster County Coroner Mike Morris said he is awaiting specifics from medical officials.

Harris was well known and adored by many on campus, Indian Land High Principal David Shamble said.

“You can throw any good adjective in there you want,” Shamble said. “It’s true. What a great young man. He was going places. The world was his oyster.”

At Indian Land High, Harris was ranked second in his class. He was in ROTC, wrestled and played football. He also was an Eagle Scout with Troop 275 and a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church.

“If you put together all of those traits that a new parent would love for their child to have, he has them,” Shamble said.

In 2009, Harris told the Fort Mill Times that he dreamed of being a United States Marine.

He graduated from Indian Land High that summer with acceptance letters from all three U.S. military academies – the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Harris received recommendations from former U.S. Rep. John Spratt and U.S. Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham.

Harris chose the Naval Academy, where he attended until spring of this year.

“My dad taught me a lot about the Naval Academy, and sometime around the middle of my junior year I decided I really wanted to apply,” Harris said in June 2009. “It felt great to get into all three. I'm pretty excited.”

He was one of 1,200 students accepted to the Naval Academy that year, chosen from more than 15,000 applicants.

“I used to joke with him that we’ve at least had one president come from there,” said Shamble, referring to Andrew Jackson. “I told we were looking forward to having another – one from Indian Land.”

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/15/4190487/indian-land-high-grad-who-was.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.

Rock Hill crash damages sign honoring S.C.’s first black female lawmaker

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/14/4189340/rock-hill-crash-damages-sign-honoring.html#storylink=cpyAt the S.C. Department of Transportation sign shop, workdays are spent replacing and fixing road signs that are clipped, run over and smashed by drivers.

But the most recently smashed York County sign was not just any sign – it bears the name of a political trailblazer in the neighborhood she called home.

A hit-and-run driver in Rock Hill damaged a sign honoring the first-ever black woman to serve in the General Assembly, the late Juanita Goggins.

To make matters worse, the driver damaged an expensive sign at the entrance to the Boyd Hill community that elderly neighbors do not have the money to replace.

The signs are on Rock Hill’s West Main Street at the corner of Bynum Avenue, just west of Cherry Road. Police are investigating, but it remains unclear who ran over the green “Juanita Goggins Highway” sign and cracked in half the wooden “Boyd Hill” neighborhood sign.

Goggins, a teacher, was first elected in 1974, re-elected in 1976 and 1978 before illness ended her political career in 1980. She died in 2010.

The stretch of West Main Street between Cherry Road and Heckle Boulevard was named in her honor a year before she died.

Her ex-husband, retired Rock Hill dentist Dr. Horace Goggins, still lives at the western limit of the neighborhood. An identical sign for eastbound motorists stands in front of the Goggins home as a proud reminder of Juanita Goggins’ service.

“It is a real shame that someone would hit the other sign,” Goggins said. “And to make it worse, whomever did it did not stop and tell anyone. That is what hurts the most.”

The sign was damaged just a couple of weeks before the Democratic National Convention arrives 25 miles north in Charlotte. Juanita Goggins was the first black woman from South Carolina to serve on the Democratic National Committee, which runs the convention.

A sign that honored Boyd Hill as Rock Hill’s neighborhood of the year in 1996 was also damaged, but a wooden neighborhood sign is a loss that has neighbors upset.

The custom-made “Boyd Hill Community, families working together” neighborhood sign – up since the mid 1990s – is identical to a sign on Constitution Boulevard on the other side of the neighborhood. The sign would cost more than $1,500 to replace.

“We don’t have that kind of money,” said Joe McMoore, president of the neighborhood association. “We had two fundraisers all those years ago to buy those signs. The signs are there so that everyone would feel welcome coming into Boyd Hill. Boyd Hill belongs to the people.”

Boyd Hill, bordered by Cherry Road to the east and Heckle Boulevard to the west, is home to many elderly residents who have lived in the predominantly black neighborhood for decades. A floodlight that shines on the sign so it can be seen at night also was destroyed.

“We love our signs and love our neighborhood,” said Floree Hooper, another neighborhood association member. “The sign welcomes people who live here home, but it also welcomes everyone to Boyd Hill.”

State Department of Transportation workers, alerted to the damage Monday by The Herald, immediately re-posted the state-owned Goggins sign on two new metal poles.

The poles that were sheared off in the wreck are made to break away if hit by a vehicle, said David Kelly, foreman of the sign shop for DOT’s York County operation.

The Goggins sign was warped and bent by the impact, but workers Ron Winters and Lee Wade, along with a state prison inmate from a work-release program, were able to save the sign.

A new sign would have cost several hundred dollars, Kelly said.

After his work was done, Lee said: “This sign matters to people. Nobody should knock it down.”

Want to help?

To donate to the Boyd Hill Neighborhood Association for a replacement sign, write to Joe McMoore, president, Boyd Hill neighborhood association, 324 Berry St., Rock Hill, S.C. 29732.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/14/4189340/rock-hill-crash-damages-sign-honoring.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.

GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Authorities say one person is dead and two others injured after a motorcycle wreck in Georgetown County.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol says four motorcycles were involved in the crash after 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Troopers say the first three riders slowed down, but a fourth biker in the back did not and hit the other three.

All four bikers were thrown from their motorcycles. The rider on the back motorcycle was killed, and two others were sent to the hospital for treatment.

A fourth rider had on a helmet and suffered minor injuries.

No names have been released, and the Highway Patrol says it's still investigating the crash.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/06/4166611/1-killed-2-hurt-in-georgetown.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.

CHARLOTTE — A man died early Sunday after crashing his car in the 13000 block of Zoar Road near Lake Wylie, according to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police.

Dan McGee was driving alone when his 2007 Infiniti M45 ran off the road and overturned before striking a tree, police said.

McGee was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said they did not know whether alcohol contributed to the crash, although they did say that speed was a factor.

The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective R.C. Gormican at 704-432-2169.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/05/4166071/man-dies-in-single-vehicle-crash.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.

Pedestrian dies after being struck by car in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL — Police say a 57-year-old pedestrian hit by a car at the intersection of Heckle Boulevard and McCullough Street in Rock Hill late Wednesday night has died.

Barbara Sibley, of 1438 Archive St. in Rock Hill, was taken to Piedmont Medical Center where she was pronounced dead around 10:25 p.m., said York County Coroner Sabrina Gast.

Sibley died from injuries suffered during the accident, Gast said.

Rock Hill police officers and the police department’s accident reconstruction team were on the scene late Wednesday, said Lt. Brad Redfearn with the Rock Hill Police Department.

Preliminary findings show that Sibley may have been intoxicated when she walked from McCullough Street onto Heckle Boulevard and failed to yield for a 2009 Chevrolet Impala that had the right of way, Redfearn said.

She walked in front of the car and was hit, he said.

The driver told police that he was traveling on Heckle Boulevard at 40- 45 mph when he saw Sibley step into the road from the sidewalk, according to a Rock Hill police report. The driver said Sibley back up as if she was going to yield the right of way to the car but, at the last minute, she walked in front of the vehicle.

Another driver, who said he was traveling behind the driver of the Chevrolet Impala, said he saw Sibley enter the sidewalk.

Detectives spoke with a neighbor, who said that at least three minutes before he learned of the accident, he let Sibley use his bathroom while she was walking home, the report states. That same neighbor told police he thought Sibley was intoxicated at the time.

Members of the police department's accident reconstruction team determined that Sibley was crossing the street to return to her Archive Street home, the report states.

Redfearn said the area between McCullough Street and Heckle Boulevard doesn't have a crosswalk.

As of now, police do not plan to file charges against the driver, which stopped after the crash, he said.

The driver's name wasn't immediately available.

Check back later for more details.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/08/01/4157429/pedestrian-struck-by-vehicle-on.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.

YORK — A York woman died after her car ran off the left side of the road, hit a tree and went into an embankment in York Monday afternoon.

The Highway Patrol is still investigating the deadly crash on Locust Hill Road off State Route 63, said Lance Cpl. Judd Jones.

Around 4 p.m., the 44-year-old woman was traveling west in her 1999 Honda on State Route 63 when she ran off the side of the road, slid into an embankment and struck a tree.

She was wearing a seat belt at the time, Jones said.

She was taken to Piedmont Medical Center where she was pronounced her dead.

Her name was not immediately available. Check back for more details.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/07/24/4132616/1-woman-dead-in-fatal-crash-in.html

CLOVER — One person is dead after an early Tuesday morning collision on S.C. 49 near Clover.

Four people traveling in a 1996 Infiniti were ejected from the vehicle when it swerved onto the other side of the road, struck a tree and overturned, said Lance Cpl. Judd Jones with the Highway Patrol.

Officials responded to the intersection of S.C. 49 and Clegg Farm Drive, just outside of Clover, to find the Infinity had flipped over, said Jones.

A preliminary investigation shows that the driver, James Rose, 19, of York, was traveling north on S.C. 49 when he swerved onto the other side of the road and struck a tree. The car then overturned and passengers were thrown out.

Piedmont EMS, the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department and Clover Rescue Squad all responded to the incident around 1:38 a.m., said Ralph Merchant, operations manager for York County public safety and communications.

Paramedics took Rose, 19, and another passenger, Kristen Wall, 18 of Clover to Piedmont Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, Jones said. Dustin Campbell, 16, of York, and the other passenger, 18, were airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center with serious injuries.

The unnamed passenger later died at the hospital, Jones said. That person's name was not immediately available.

None of the victims were wearing seat belts.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/07/24/4135321/1-dead-after-car-hits-tree-flips.html

One person was killed late Thursday after a single-vehicle wreck in York County.

The name of the victim, who was described as a 30-year-old man from Edgemoor, was not immediately available.

The S.C. Highway Patrol said the wreck occurred around 11:30 p.m. Thursday on Hall Spencer Road after the driver ran off the right side of the road and struck a ditch. The car then overturned. The highway patrol said the driver was not wearing a seat belt and was the only person in the vehicle.

The wreck remains under investigation.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/07/13/4110154/man-killed-in-york-county-wreck.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.

YORK — A York man was found dead lying in the middle of a residential street after a hit-and-run accident Saturday, York Police Chief Andy Robinson said in a release.

William Hayes, 50, of New Street died sometime Saturday morning after a vehicle apparently hit him and sped off, leaving him to die not far from his home.

Authorities discovered Hayes’ body after 4:48 a.m. when they received a 911 call, reporting a body lying in the road on New Street between Hill and Congress streets. EMS responded and pronounced Hayes dead.

York County's forensics unit and coroner’s office also responded with forensics investigators collecting evidence left at the scene by a vehicle that struck Hayes.

York Police Chief Andy Robinson said the incident is under investigation and police are asking for anyone with leads to call police or give an anonymous tip.

On Saturday neighbors and family grieved the loss of a friend and good man known for his cheer, helping others, and working hard.

Several gathered at the residence of Denise Hayes, William’s sister, on California Street, just a short walk through the woods to New Street.

Around 3 a.m. Hayes left her residence, and likely cut through the woods between California and New streets, a popular path he often used, Denise said. “He had a pocket full of peaches” he was eating, she said.

They recalled many fond memories of Hayes, such as the way he loved to dance.

“He didn’t care if he danced with anybody, or if he danced by himself,” said Joyce Thompson, whose husband is related to Hayes.

Hayes’ sister Rolinda Hayes said the last time she saw Hayes they had eaten breakfast together. Later he came by and asked about her lawnmower which she couldn’t get to crank.

Before he left she remembers him saying, “I might put my shoes on and jog a little bit.”

A good man

Hayes worked for McNeely Brothers Painting in York for ten or fifteen years at least, said Steve McNeely, who owns the business.

“He was a good worker. He’s going to be missed. It’s sad his life ended the way it did,” he said.

McNeely said Hayes spent a lot of time working for him and got to know his family, and his grandchildren came to know Hayes affectionately as “Willy Wonka.”

“Our family is going to miss him,” McNeely said., who

Darvin and Susie Osborne, who have been Hayes’ neighbors for many years, said he was a real good friend who helped around their home and even insisted on fixing his lawnmower for free.

The Osbornes pointed out Saturday where Hayes was hit, not far from where the path from California Street intersects with New Street and not far from where a streetlamp illuminates the street at night, they said.

They said cars tend to speed down the narrow street. That’s a problem especially when youth are playing basketball at the courts across the street from Hayes’ house, the Osbornes said.

Seeking closure

Family and neighbors were struggling to understand how the incident happened. They were also shocked at how anyone could have hit Hayes and left him.

People always stop when they hit dogs or deer or even possums, they said. With lights on both sides of where he was found, they couldn’t understand how anyone didn’t see him.

Whoever hit him has “no compassion or conscience,” Thompson said.

“You wouldn’t do a dog like that,” Rolinda Hayes said.

Hayes’ niece Monica Hayes shares her uncle’s birthday. They always celebrated together, but the day will be different from now on, she said.

“I won’t get to hear that joking around and telling me I’m pretty. I won’t get to hear that,” she said, adding she wants whoever is responsible to come forward.

“Maybe it was an accident, but just come forward,” she said.

“Everybody wants closure,” Thompson said. “Come forward and admit what you’ve done.”

Police ask anyone with information about this incident to contact the York Police Department at 803-684-4141, Crime Stoppers at 1-877-409-4321, or www.tipsubmit.com to leave an anonymous tip.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/07/08/4096381/man-dead-after-hit-and-run-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.

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.