Texting while driving, he ran over 2 people, SC solicitor says. He’s going to prison

A man who admitted to texting and driving when he ran over two people on a sidewalk in Lexington County was sentenced to prison Tuesday.

After Richard Alan Norris II ran over a 20- and 19-year-old in a 2003 Mercedes-Benz, he drove away from the crash, according to 11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard in a statement.

The 29-year-old Lexington County resident was identified as the driver by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and admitted “that he was texting while driving” during the collision, Hubbard’s office reported.

Alexi Ramazon and Kanya Gidion were walking on a sidewalk adjacent to St. Andrews Road near Jamil Road when the crash occurred Dec. 26, 2016, the solicitor’s office said. Both were taken to an area hospital.

The 19-year-old Gidion suffered skull fractures, a traumatic brain injury and has been left partially handicapped, after losing much of the use of his dominant arm and hand, according to Hubbard’s statement.

Norris pleaded guilty to hit and run resulting in great bodily injury Tuesday and was sentenced to five years in prison, the solicitor’s office reported.

“This should be a reminder that texting while driving is a hazard to our roadways,” Hubbard said in the news release.

This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 8:41 PM.