South Carolina: Driver who struck cop on I-126 was at fault, collision report says

A driver who struck a Columbia police officer on Interstate 126 was at fault in the crash, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol collision report. Conklin had stopped on the Broad River bridge May 24 during evening rush hour traffic to work the scene of an accident. He was when he was . That vehicle, a 2014 Honda, was driven by Jason Bigby of Columbia.

The report, released by the S.C. Department of Public Safety to The State on Thursday, lists Bigby as contributing to the collision. The officer, 28-year-old Pete Conklin of the Columbia Police Department, is listed as not contributing.

Bigby was driving 45 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone, according to the report. He had no one else in the vehicle with him.

The report describes the crash:

“Unit 1, a city of Columbia police officer, was inside his marked patrol vehicle with its emergency lights operating while stopped in Lane 4 investigating a traffic collision on I-126, eastbound. The driver of Unit 2 was traveling east on I-126 in Lane 4. Unit 1 observed Unit 2 approaching. Unit 1 exited his patrol vehicle and ran into Lane Number 3 in an attempt to avoid being struck by Unit 2. The driver of Unit 2 swerved left to avoid colliding with the patrol vehicle and struck Unit 1 in Lane 3. After being struck Unit 1 came to rest in Lane 2.”

Conklin had to undergo multiple surgeries after the crash.

Officials told The State that Bigby was logged in to the Uber app at the time of the collision. Conklin and his attorneys are considering a lawsuit against Bigby and Uber as well.

Brad Hewett, an attorney with the Mike Kelly Law Group, told The State that Bigby was driving for Uber. He said that a private investigator working for the law firm spotted an Uber sticker on the back of Bigby’s vehicle during a visit to Bigby’s residence on June 24.

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