Former Port Royal mayor injured in collision with vacant building

The driver injured Saturday when he struck a vacant Port of Port Royal building with a pickup truck was former mayor Henry Robinson.

Robinson, who retired from the town of Port Royal in 2011, was hospitalized Saturday after the 2002 Toyota pickup he was traveling in went off 7th Street at about 1:45 p.m. and crashed into an abandoned building, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Judd Jones.

Troopers determined the 79-year-old Robinson was traveling too fast for conditions, Jones said.

On Saturday, Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said the victim of the accident was pinned under his dashboard and suffered significant injuries to his legs. Jones said Sunday that Robinson’s injuries were minor.

Mayor Samuel Murray said he was aware Robinson was involved in the accident and may have been transported from Beaufort Memorial Hospital to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

He had seen Robinson on Saturday morning at a meeting but had not reached him since the accident and did not have any information about his condition.

Robinson was both the first black councilman and black mayor of Port Royal. He held the top post for 18 years and then returned from his first retirement to serve as a councilman again until 2011.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Former Port Royal mayor injured in collision with vacant building."