Woman charged in wreck that injured Bluffton officer as he drove to fatal crash scene
A Bluffton woman has been charged with failure to yield to the right of way after the vehicle she drove collided with a Bluffton Police Department cruiser on Monday night, injuring an officer.
The 65-year-old woman was charged after the 2009 Dodge SUV she drove struck a cruiser driven by Officer George Wetzel on S.C. 170 around 10:25 p.m. as he was headed to a fatal crash on Bluffton Parkway, according to Lance Cpl. Matthew Southern of the S.C. Highway Patrol. The charge is a misdemeanor.
Wetzel was driving southbound with lights and sirens on to the crash that killed Noah Fedele, 17, and Samuel Bougus, 19, when “a vehicle pulled out in front of him as it turned into the back gate of Sun City,” according to a police department news release.
The collision totaled the patrol vehicle and Wetzel suffered cuts to his hands from the broken windshield, but was not taken to the hospital, Nelson said.
The SUV’s driver was transported by EMS to a hospital for possible injuries, Southern said. He could not provide the newspaper with her condition on Wednesday.
Caitlin Turner: 843-706-8184, @Cait_E_Turner
This story was originally published May 17, 2017 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Woman charged in wreck that injured Bluffton officer as he drove to fatal crash scene."