One man is dead and another has been arrested after a hit-and-run accident on Interstate 26 in Laurens County early Saturday afternoon.
Lance Cpl. Josef Robinson with the South Carolina Highway Patrol says that 43-year old Brian Keith Stephens, of Inman, was arrested and charged with felony driving under the influence resulting in death, felony driving under the influence resulting in great bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury, possession of a stolen vehicle and driving under suspension.
According to Robinson, Stephens was driving a 1987 BMW sedan westbound on Interstate 26 around 3 pm Saturday afternoon when he lost control of the vehicle and went off the left side of the road and into the median. Robinson says that Stephens overcorrected and went off the right side of the road and then overcorrected and ran off the left side of the road and into the median again before overcorrecting another time and back onto the interstate, where he struck a 2003 Mazda SUV with five people inside, causing the SUV to flip multiple times.
According to Robinson, Stephens, who was not injured, then fled the scene of the accident by driving the BMW eastbound in the westbound lane and back into Newberry County. A short time later, the BMW was located at a Citgo gas station in Newberry and Stephens was located in some woods a short time later and was apprehended and shortly thereafter transported to the Johnson Detention Center in Laurens County where he is currently awaiting a bond hearing.
Laurens County Coroner Nick Nichols says that the driver of the SUV, 54-year old David Williams, of Johnson City, Tennessee, died early Sunday morning after being airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Hospital. One of the passengers in the SUV, 20-year old Allie Williams was ejected from the vehicle and transported by helicopter to Greenville Memorial Hospital, while the other three occupants in the vehicle received minor injuries. There was no immediate word on Allie Williams' condition, according to a Greenville Hospital System spokesperson.
Nichols says that the occupants of the SUV were on their way back to Tennessee after a family vacation in Hilton Head.
Robinson says that the investigation was successful due to the cooperative efforts between the Highway Patrol, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Newberry County Sheriff's Office and Laurens County Sheriff's Office.
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