The woman injured in Wednesday's car accident involving Mayor-elect Steve Benjamin has a broken pelvis and a brain injury, a person close to the family said.
Deborah Rubens is on a ventilator but has responded to family members who are at the hospital, the source said.
Rubens, a Dreher High School graduate, is a waitress at the Clarion Hotel restaurant and is well-known among politicians who stay at the hotel during legislative sessions. Many local politicians know her as well. Rubens is not shy about offering her opinion on state and local matters.
"She's my waitress," said Columbia Mayor Bob Coble. "I never asked what party she belonged to or how she votes. But we think alike on a lot of issues."
Benjamin's automobile collided about 5:40 a.m. with a car driven by Columbia resident Deborah Rubens at the intersection of Gervais and Pickens streets, several blocks from the State House.
Benjamin, who was on his way to an early morning television interview just hours after being declared the city's new mayor, was not hurt.
The Columbia Police Department declined to say who was at fault, but the state Highway Patrol said it independently verified that there "was no impairment on Benjamin's part" at the time of the wreck. An investigation was ongoing, police said.
Photos and video of the crash site show that Rubens' Toyota Tercel had crumpled on the driver's side. Benjamin's Mercedes sport utility vehicle was heavily damaged in the front right bumper.
Rubens, a Rosewood community resident who has an adult son in California, had to be cut from her car after the accident and was rushed to Palmetto Health Richland, where she remained Wednesday night.
She was on her way to start a shift at the Clarion Hotel Columbia on Gervais Street, where she has worked for more than a decade, hotel general manager Bill Ellen said. A server in the hotel restaurant, she is well-known by the state, local and national politicians who dine there, often talking to them about issues they are working on.
Benjamin issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon, saying he wanted to visit the woman in the hospital.
"I continue to be concerned about the health of the lady who was driving the other car involved in this morning's accident," Benjamin's statement said. "My wife DeAndrea and I continue to pray for the complete recovery of the injured lady. We ask every citizen of Columbia to do the same."
Little information was available about Rubens' condition, but the Clarion's Ellen said he tried to visit her Wednesday morning and was told she was in "critical care." Family members contacted by The State declined to talk publicly about her condition, but acquaintances expressed concern.
"She's good people," said Dalton Tresvant, an aide to U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., "I just can't get over this. We hope she pulls through."
Wednesday's wreck had Columbia buzzing after word spread that Benjamin was involved.
Less than 10 hours earlier, Benjamin was elected Columbia's first African-American mayor, following a hard-fought race with City Councilman Kirkman Finlay. He hailed the victory Tuesday night, saying Columbia, South Carolina's largest city, had made history. He and his family had booked rooms to stay overnight at downtown's Hilton Hotel.
As he made his way to a pre-dawn television interview on Garners Ferry Road, things turned sour. His Mercedes sport utility vehicle was heading east on Gervais Street when the collision occurred, Columbia police said. A Toyota Tercel being driven north on Pickens Street was making a right turn onto Gervais at the time of the crash. The wreck happened at a traffic light just a few blocks from the USC campus. It wasn't disclosed Wednesday who had the right of way.
EMS workers examined Benjamin at the scene and determined he was unhurt.
Rubens, who records show was born in April 1949, was within 50 yards of the hotel on Gervais Street, according to reports from police and from her employer. Both she and Benjamin were the only occupants of their vehicles at the time of the crash, Columbia police spokesman Brick Lewis said.
Several employees from an insurance marketing firm witnessed the accident as they were preparing to car-pool to a seminar in Greenville, said state Sen. Joel Lourie, who also works for the company.
"They called me to tell me there was an accident," Lourie said. "They said 'We think Steve Benjamin is in it.' They stayed and tried to help as best they could."
Lourie, D-Richland, declined to reveal the employees' names, saying the wreck was under investigation. But he said they gave statements to police. Police would not release any documents that would provide details of the crash.
Meanwhile, questions continued to pop up Wednesday about why Columbia police were in charge of the probe involving their soon-to-be mayor. Benjamin said in a statement that he had asked for another law enforcement agency "to participate in the investigation to avoid the appearance of favoritism."
But Police Department spokesman Lewis said Columbia remained in charge of the probe. Sid Gaulden, a Highway Patrol spokesman, initially said his agency was investigating, but later said he had been mistaken.
In a statement late Wednesday afternoon, Gaulden said the city asked for help from the Highway Patrol just before 7:40 a.m., and a trooper arrived at the accident scene at 8:10 a.m.
Once there, the trooper spoke with Benjamin, finding him unimpaired, Gaulden said. The trooper then sought to speak to the driver of the other vehicle, but the woman had already been taken to the hospital, the statement said.
Benjamin was unavailable for an interview with The State, but his spokesman, Michael Wukela, said Benjamin was OK, that he was "cooperating fully with police, and his primary concern right now is that the woman in the other car is OK."
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