Ice storm claims hit $15 million in S.C.

South Carolinians filed more than 7,600 claims worth $15 million after last week’s ice storm, according to the South Carolina Insurance News Service.

The average claim amount was $2,000.

Claims typically were filed reporting car and home damage caused by tree limbs breaking under the weight of ice and automobile crashes on slick roads.

• Investigation into I-126 wreck continues

A month after a woman was killed and a man critically injured in an I-126 traffic accident, Columbia police continue to investigate.

No charges have been filed in the wreck that killed Martha Briggs, 40, of Lexington, and injured Troy Kenner, 40, of Columbia.

Police spokesman Skot Garrick said officials need to get more detailed information about the case from Briggs’ relatives and are waiting to hear from them.

Briggs had stopped her 1990 Chrysler LeBaron on the interstate on Jan. 4 after the hood buckled, blocking her view.

Kenner, who stopped to help, was talking with Briggs about moving the Chrysler to the emergency lane when they were hit.

Christopher Hawkins, 22, was driving the 1993 Chevrolet Blazer that hit Briggs and Kenner, who were standing outside their vehicles.

A Capital City Bombers’ outfielder, Tim Bishop, died on the same road in April 1997 when he stopped in an emergency lane to fix a blowout.

No charges were filed in that case.

• Sanford to name Public Safety nominee

Gov. Mark Sanford today will name his nominee to succeed state Public Safety director Boykin Rose.

Rose has agreed to remain in the post as director of the state’s biggest police agency for another month as his successor goes through the confirmation process, Sanford announced earlier in the week.

Rose has been head of the Public Safety Department for a total of eight years — longer than anyone since it was created in 1993.

The agency includes the state Highway Patrol, the police academy, state trucking regulators and a division that is responsible for the security of state officials and many state buildings

Rose’s current term expired Jan. 31, said spokesman Sid Gaulden.

• Woman dies after curling iron starts fire

A curling iron left on a towel started an accidental fire that killed a 60-year-old Harbison woman, according to the Richland County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Margaret W. Hazelwood, a retired schoolteacher, died Monday from smoke inhalation in her townhouse at 175 West Court. Hazelwood died from smoke inhalation, said Richland County Coroner Gary Watts.

House painters working nearby tried to save her but were driven back by the smoke, fire officials said.

The fire started in the bathroom.

• Two escapees were to be released soon

Two prison program escapees were weeks away from being released when they reportedly kidnapped a man and forced him to drive them to Atlanta, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.

Benjamin Ray Nabors, 28, and Randy Turner, who turned 30 on Monday, were being held in Atlanta earlier this week, awaiting extradition, officials said.

Nabors, who was serving a three-year sentence for robbery, was scheduled for release March 11.

Turner, who was serving a two-year sentence for obtaining goods under false pretense, was scheduled for release March 4.

Corrections director Jon Ozmint said the pair walked away from Watkins Pre-Release Center Saturday night.

A Columbia man, John R. Sullivan Jr., 21, picked them up at the Subway on Broad River Road after they said their vehicle had broken down, according to an incident report from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Officials said the men forced Sullivan to drive them to Atlanta where Sullivan later fled.

Once the men return to South Carolina, they will be charged and placed in a fenced-in facility, Ozmint said.

The pre-release center, which holds inmates who are within three years of their release date, is not surrounded by a fence and has no alarms on the doors, Ozmint said.

• Ex-Babcock worker to go on probation

A man faces probation after pleading guilty to neglecting a mentally retarded man who later died, according to the state attorney general’s office.

Desmond O’Neal Jiles, 23, of 161 Brookwood Road in Batesburg-Leesville, pleaded guilty in January to one count of neglect of a vulnerable adult, a felony.

Jiles was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $200, but the sentence was suspended to 18 months probation once the fine is paid.

Jiles was employed as a mental retardation specialist at the Babcock Center, Terrace Way Community Training Home in Batesburg-Leesville on May 30, 2002.

When one of the residents, 37-year-old Arthur Slice, became ill, Jiles did not report this to a nurse, a violation of Babcock policy and state law.

Slice, who also had Down syndrome, was hospitalized in serious condition and underwent exploratory surgery, said Mark Plowden, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

He was then diagnosed with pneumonia and died on June 4, 2002, Plowden said.

• Coroner wants help locating man’s family

The Lexington County Coroner’s office is asking for the public’s help in locating the family of a man who died in December.

Willie James Mitchell, 55, died Dec. 15, but the coroner’s office cannot find his next of kin.

Mitchell, who was black, might have been born in St. Stephens, but lived in the West Columbia area for several years.

Anyone with information can call the coroner’s office at (803) 359-8439.

• Richland EMS wants reports on ice damage

Richland County Emergency Services is looking for those whose homes or businesses sustained damage in January’s ice storm.

This information will be included in a report to state and federal officials, outlining the financial impact of the storm.

E-mail your name, address and estimated damage to emergencyservices@richlandonline.com, or fax the information to 748-5055 or call 576-3413 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.

• Man to pay DirecTV for satellite card abuse

A former Columbia resident must pay DirecTV more than $14,000 after pleading guilty to illegally modifying cards in which customers would receive free satellite service.

George S. Mack II, 22, of Charlotte, was sentenced Monday in federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

He received five years probation and six months of home detention with electronic monitoring.

He must undergo mental health counseling and drug abuse treatment. Mack also must pay $14,348.25 in restitution to DirecTV.

Evidence showed that Mack modified smart cards for Irmo Jewelry and Loan owner Malcolm Jackson, who then sold the cards to customers.

When using the cards, customers would not have to pay for the satellite service. Jackson has also pleaded guilty but has not been sentenced.

• S.C. 6 overpass work to cause I-20 detour

I-20 motorists will encounter a detour tonight as work progresses on the S.C. 6 overpass, the state Transportation Department said.

Westbound traffic headed toward Augusta will be channeled into one lane and directed to Exit 55 between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the road-repair agency said Monday.

Law enforcement officers will direct traffic at the location.

The overpass is being widened and improved.

From Staff Reports