An elderly man died after Midlands police didn’t buckle his seat belt, a lawsuit alleges
Police officers in West Columbia failed to fasten the seatbelt of a man they’d arrested and were transporting in their police car, inadvertently leading to his death when another vehicle crashed into them, according to a lawsuit against the city and its police department.
The family of Eddie Bigham, who died in July 2024 following an arrest for a misdemeanor, have filed a suit against the city, the city’s police department and the driver who crashed into the police car. It’s unclear why Bigham was being arrested, but The State has filed a public records request for the incident report.
Bigham, a native of Great Falls, S.C., was arrested by West Columbia police officers July 11, 2024. The 76-year-old was “suffering from the effects of what would commonly be referred [to] as dementia,” according to a lawsuit filed in Lexington County on Feb. 28.
As officers transported Bigham to the Lexington County Detention Center along Augusta Road in West Columbia, a driver pulled out in front of the police car, causing an accident. Bigham, who hadn’t had his seatbelt fastened and was unable to fasten it himself as a result of being handcuffed, was severely injured, the lawsuit said.
According to a local TV station’s reporting at the time of the accident, a West Columbia police officer was also taken to the hospital as a result of the crash. The officer survived the accident.
Bigham died in the hospital a week after the crash. According to his obituary, he had been married to his wife, Rhoda, for 55 years. He worked for nearly 40 years at the state Department of Transportation, having retired in 2005.
Per the lawsuit, the family said that following the car accident they weren’t notified for hours that Bigham had been transported to the hospital. The police agency kept Bigham in custody during his hospital stay, which limited “his family’s access to him during his final days,” the lawsuit said.
The city of West Columbia and its police department have not filed a response to the lawsuit, court records show. A spokesperson for the city declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the city’s police department.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
