20-year-old killed in crash after leading law enforcement officer on chase, SC cops say

Noah Feit
·2 min read
2

A South Carolina man was killed in a crash after he led a law enforcement officer on a car chase, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher identified the victim as 20-year-old Lexington resident Dwayne Alfonso Reed Jr., the sheriff’s department said Monday in a news release.

Reed died in a single-vehicle collision on April 14, according to the release.

The sheriff’s department said that Reed was the only person in the car, and no other injuries were reported.

A South Carolina Bureau of Protective Services officer tried to pull over the vehicle Reed was driving on Interstate 20 after seeing the 20-year-old speeding and driving recklessly, the sheriff’s department said.

“Reed initiated a pursuit ... when he refused to stop for the officer, who had turned on his blue lights and siren, on I-20 just before the Longs Pond Road exit,” at the 51 mile marker, Sheriff Jay Koon said in a news release. “Reed’s car was traveling at a very high rate of speed when he lost control and drove off the right side of the road and struck two trees.”

When deputies arrived, Reed was still inside the car and he died at the scene, according to the release.

“The South Carolina Department of Public Safety asked us to investigate the crash because one of its officers was involved,” Koon said. “Deputies conducted the preliminary phase of their investigation on the scene at Longs Pond Road near Roscoe Road.” That’s less than a mile from Exit 51 on I-20.

Through Wednesday, 260 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,030 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least 18 people have died in Lexington County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 45 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS reported.