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.