Ridgeland driver charged Tuesday with fatal hit-and-run that occurred in April, police say
A man who killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run accident in April was arrested Tuesday and charged with hit-and-run resulting in death, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
He is identified as Jaidyn Zimmerman, 20, of Ridgeland, jail records show.
The accident occurred April 8, when Rodney Richardson, 70, of Ridgeland, was struck by a vehicle while walking on Grahamville Road. The driver fled the scene.
Police are not sure whether Richardson was attempting to cross the road, according to Chief Deputy Jeff Crosby, a spokesperson for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
But not far behind the driver was an officer from the Ridgeland Police Department, who witnessed the hit-and-run. Another deputy followed the driver, later identified by police as Zimmerman, to his residence on Captain Bill Road, but was unable to make an arrest because his car did not have blue lights and he was not in his uniform, Crosby said. By the time other officers arrived, Zimmerman had fled.
But deputies soon discovered the accident had occurred only a few hundred feet outside of Ridgeland’s town limits, meaning the Ridgeland Police Department could not make an arrest. Because the SC Highway Patrol could not take on a case already in progress, the investigation was handed over to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Crosby explained.
Jasper County deputies continued the investigation, obtaining an arrest warrant Sept. 19. With the help of SLED’s Fugitive Task Force, Zimmerman was located and arrested Tuesday.
Richardson was described by loved ones as “a meek and kind person.” He died April 10, two days after the accident.
Despite the eyewitness account, Richardson’s official cause of death is still unknown. An autopsy was never performed due to miscommunication from Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, according to Jasper County Coroner Willie P. Aiken III. The coroner’s office is having to “work backwards,” he said, determining a cause of death through examination of hospital records.
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 4:59 PM.
