Two people killed when vehicle crashes into fire hydrant & tree, SC coroner says
Two people were killed in a crash over the weekend, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The single-vehicle collision happened in Laurens County on Saturday at about 7:10 p.m., said Cpl. Nick Pye.
Gray Court residents Ryan Joseph Padgett, 32, and Justin Bradley Cathcart, 35, were killed in what the Laurens County Coroner’s Office called an accident.
Padgett and Cathcart were riding a 2026 Kawasaki motorcycle south on Jones Road in the Fountain Inn area, according to Pye. In the 400 block the motorcycle ran off the right side of the road where it crashed into a fire hydrant then a tree, officials said.
Both Padgett and Cathcart were ejected from the motorcycle into a wooded area and died at the scene, according to the coroner’s office. It was not clear who was driving and who was the passenger on the motorcycle.
No other injuries were reported.
There was no word if either the driver or passenger were wearing a helmet.
Information about what caused the motorcycle to veer off the road was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through Dec. 28, 2025, at least 879 people had died on South Carolina roads last year, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
At least 22 people died in Laurens County crashes in 2025, according to DPS data.
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