Driver charged with DUI after crashing into two deputies, SC sheriff says

Two deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, who are K-9 handlers, were injured early Sunday morning when hit by an intoxicated driver, according to a news release.

The crash happened at about 1:15 a.m. as the deputies were monitoring traffic with radar detectors on the northbound side of I-277, near the Farrow Road exit, the sheriff’s department said. That’s in the downtown Columbia area, not far from the Prisma Health Richland hospital campus.

Nicholas Jackson, 21, was driving a vehicle that ran off I-277 and hit both K-9 vehicles at a high rate of speed, according to the release.

Both Jackson and a sheriff’s department K-9 were entrapped in separate vehicles, according to the release.

Members of the Columbia Fire Department responded to the crash and rescued both the dog and Jackson, the sheriff’s department said.

The K-9 handlers, deputies Richard Jeffcoat and Robert Beary, were injured and taken to an area hospital, according to the release. Jeffcoat and Beary have been released from the hospital and now are home recovering, the sheriff’s department said.

The department’s dogs involved in the wreck, K-9’s Kiro and Raffe were unharmed, according to the release. Fellow K-9 Ribeye was monitored after being entrapped in the vehicle, but has not shown signs of injury, the sheriff’s department said.

EMS took Jackson to the hospital, but he has since been released and charged with DUI by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is investigating the collision, according to the release. No bond has been set for Jackson, who is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, jail records show.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription