Wife of driver severely injured in DUI crash sues Bluffton financial adviser
The wife of a driver severely injured in a U.S. 278 crash in November has filed a lawsuit against the Bluffton financial adviser charged with driving under the influence and hitting the couple.
The husband of Linda Reker, who filed the lawsuit, is still in the hospital being treated for his injuries, Danny Henderson, Reker’s attorney, said Friday. Henderson declined to provide more information about the man’s condition.
Linda Reker sued Todd Blackwell, 47, of Bluffton, who was charged by S.C. Highway Patrol on Nov. 21 with one count of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, one count of simple possession of marijuana, one count of open container of alcohol, and one count of transporting alcohol with a broken seal.
On the evening of Nov. 21, Blackwell, a partner at wealth management company Blackwell Boyd, was heading east on U.S. 278 in a 2019 BMW SUV.
He rear-ended a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette stopped at a red light at Burnt Church Road, according to SCHP Trooper Tyler Tidwell.
Linda Reker was in the passenger seat when the Corvette was struck and ran off to the right, hitting an unoccupied parked car.
Blackwell was not injured, Tidwell said. He was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center just after midnight.
Three days later, Circuit Judge Brooks Goldsmith set Blackwell’s cash bond at $100,000, court records show, and Blackwell paid 10% of that. In South Carolina, that serves as a deposit and a promise to show up in court and follow bond conditions. He was released from jail on Nov. 25, but his attorney was required to put his client’s passport and driver’s license in a safe, the court records say.
Reker’s lawsuit seeks damages for her injuries in the crash.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
