2 dead, 4 taken to hospital after crash, South Carolina cops say. Man charged with DUI
Two people are dead and four were sent to hospitals after a multi-car crash in South Carolina, officials said.
Now, a man is facing several impaired-driving charges in the Berkeley County wreck, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.
Joseph Lewis Hass, 23, is charged with two counts of felony DUI resulting in death and one count of DUI resulting in great bodily injury. State troopers in a March 18 news release didn’t share attorney information for Hass.
Officials said a Chevrolet pickup truck, pulling a utility trailer, was going south on U.S. Highway 17 alternate when a Volkswagen hit it from behind on March 16. The impact caused the pickup to travel across the center line of the road and hit a Buick SUV that had been heading north.
Then a fourth vehicle — a northbound Ford sedan — also hit the pickup truck, officials said.
Hass reportedly was behind the wheel of the Volkswagen, which went off the road and landed in a ditch.
Officials said the two people inside the Buick SUV died. The Berkeley County coroner’s office didn’t immediately share their identities with McClatchy News on March 18.
The pickup truck driver and three people riding in the Ford were taken to the hospital, troopers said. The rest of the nine people in the crash — a Ford passenger and two people in the Volkswagen — weren’t injured.
Troopers said an investigation is ongoing into the crash, which was reported at about 9 p.m. on U.S. 17 alternate. The area is near Singleton Lane, roughly 35 miles northwest of Charleston.
Hass, who lives in nearby Moncks Corner, was arrested and taken to the Berkeley County jail on March 17, online records show.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 11:43 AM with the headline "2 dead, 4 taken to hospital after crash, South Carolina cops say. Man charged with DUI."
