Four people are killed in a crash and the driver is arrested, SC police say
Months after four people were killed when an SUV crashed into a tree, the driver was arrested, according to the Charleston Police Department.
Brittany Nicole Roper, a 26-year-old James Island resident, was charged with four counts of felony driving under the influence, police said Thursday in a news release.
The single-vehicle collision happened Nov. 18, 2023, police said. The Charleston County Coroner’s Office said Tyler Barron, Earl Hamilton Jr., James Hamilton and Mitchell Watson died in the crash, according to the release.
At about 1:30 a.m., officers arrived at the scene — near the intersection of Riverland Drive and George Griffith Boulevard — and found a white Cadillac SUV that had collided with an oak tree and was lying on its side, police said.
Barron, Earl Hamilton Jr., James Hamilton, and Watson had all been ejected from the SUV and died at the scene, according to the release.
Roper was not ejected from the SUV, police said.
A toxicology report showed Roper had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.09%, along with the presence of THC and THC metabolites, according to the release. In South Carolina, it’s illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher, according to state law.
Information from the SUV’s event data recorder showed the Cadillac was traveling at a speed between 89 and 96 mph moments before the crash, and between 79 and 88 mph at the time of the collision, police said. The posted speed limit on the section of the road where the collision occurred is 40 mph, according to the release.
The tree that the Cadillac crashed into has been called the “Widowmaker,” because it has been involved in other fatal collisions prior to this wreck, WCIV reported.
There was no word if Roper or any of the passengers were wearing seat belts.
Police said Roper is being held at the Al Cannon Detention Center pending a bond hearing.
“This devastating collision has inflicted unimaginable pain and loss upon the families of the victims. It was not just tragic and senseless but also entirely preventable,” Police Chief Chito Walker said in the release. “This incident illustrates the dire consequences of impaired and reckless driving — a harsh reality that should remind us all of the responsibility we hold when behind the wheel.”
In 2023, data shows that 999 people died on South Carolina roads. Of those victims, 67 died in Charleston County collisions, according to the South Carolian Department of Public Safety.
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This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Four people are killed in a crash and the driver is arrested, SC police say."
