Driver killed when car crashes into tree and telephone pole, SC cops say
One person was recently killed when a car crashed into multiple objects, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Leslie A. Ortiz, a 66-year-old Prosperity resident, was the victim who died in the late Thursday night wreck, Newberry County Coroner Laura Kneece said.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 10 p.m. in the Prosperity area of Newberry County, said Lance Cpl. Brittany of the Highway Patrol.
Ortiz was driving a 2005 Toyota Camry south on Macedonia Church Road, according to Glover. Near the intersection with Long Road, which is not far from Lake Murray, the car ran off the left side of Macedonia Church Road where it crashed into a tree and then hit a telephone pole, Glover said.
Ortiz, who was the only person in the Toyota, died at the scene, according to Glover. No other injuries were reported.
There was no word if Ortiz was wearing a seatbelt.
Information about what caused the Toyota to veer off the road was not available, but the wreck is being investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
An autopsy will be performed this week, Kneece said.
Through May 3, at least 261 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.
At least one person has died in a Newberry County crash this year, and 12 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.
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