Suspect’s car crashes, goes airborne while fleeing Sumter County checkpoint

Troopers are working two separate crashes – including one involving a Sumter County patrol car – that happened when a man tried to flee a traffic safety checkpoint Wednesday.

Sumter County deputies were conducting a driver’s license checkpoint on Mooneyhan Road around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday when a vehicle approaching the checkpoint turned off into a church parking lot without using a signal, according to Deputy Ken Bell of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The car turned onto Mooneyhan Road again and headed in the opposite direction.

A deputy attempted a traffic stop but the driver, identified as 19-year-old Tyburious Marquis Heyward, refused to stop, Bell said. He led deputies on a chase along various roadways in the city and county jurisdictions.

Heyward’s car later crashed into a curb on Atlantic Street near the Manning Avenue intersection, causing it to go airborne and roll over in the street, Bell said. Neither Heyward nor a passenger in the car were injured.

Heyward was charged with driving under suspension-second offense and failure to stop for blue lights, Bell said.

During the chase, a deputy lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree, Bell said. The officer had non-life threatening injuries and was treated and released at Palmetto Health Tuomey hospital.

The S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating the collisions.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Suspect’s car crashes, goes airborne while fleeing Sumter County checkpoint."