Released by the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.
Yesterday afternoon at approx. 4:00 PM, a deputy was sitting at the intersection of Reidville Rd. and E. Blackstock Rd. waiting in the turn lane to turn right onto E. Blackstock.
He observed a black Cadillac turning right from Reidville Rd. onto E. Blackstock Rd. with a loud exhaust and squealing tires. Our deputy activated his blue lights and siren to get around the cars in front of him in the turn lane in an attempt to stop the black Cadillac, but the Cadillac accelerated, started weaving in and out of both lanes and also passed other cars in the median, kicking up a lot of dust.
Our deputy took into consideration the suspect’s reckless driving and excessive speed, the time of day, the heavy traffic in that area, and the approaching school zone, and terminated his attempted traffic stop in the vicinity of Paradise Lanes.
When he got to the red light at E. Blackstock and Hidden Hill Rd., a SC Highway Patrolman on an agency motorcycle pulled beside him with his blue lights activated, who had also witnessed the actions of the suspect vehicle.
Our deputy told the trooper he terminated his attempted traffic stop because of all the factors already listed above, and the trooper also cut off his blue lights.
When the light turned green, the trooper was in front as both he and our deputy continued traveling down E. Blackstock Rd. towards Dawkins Middle School. As they approached Bradford Dr., they discovered that black Cadillac had been in a violent collision with another vehicle, and they attempted to render aid to the driver of the other vehicle while also detaining the suspect and calling for all other appropriate personnel to respond to the incident.
Because of both agencies attempt to stop the suspect vehicle prior to the collision, both the Highway Patrol and my agency requested SLED and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office investigate this incident. Because of their active investigations, this agency will not be providing any additional information at this time, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the family of the victim. The Coroner’s Office will be releasing the identity of the victim momentarily.
