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BLYTHEWOOD – A high speed chase by Richland County deputies in pursuit of a motorcyclist began near the intersection of Rabon Road and Two Notch Road in Columbia and ended with a crash and an arrest in Blythewood a half hour later.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., on Sunday, June 22, a Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy observed a white GSXR 1000 motorcycle bearing a Capital City Cycles paper tag driving erratically and lane-splitting on the roadway, according to an incident report obtained by The Voice.

When the deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the motorcycle pulled into a nearby Food Lion parking lot. Instead of stopping, however, the motorcycle continued on at a high rate of speed, reaching over 100 miles per hour, according to the report.

The pursuit of the motorcycle by the deputy became an approximately 15-mile chase that lasted “at least 30 minutes,” as stated in the report.

As the chase entered the Town of Blythewood on Highway 21, the motorcycle turned on to Blythewood Road, and immediately crashed across from First Community Bank.

The driver of the motorcycle, identified as Howard Parker, 30, was handcuffed and transported by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment, then to the Alvis S. Glenn Detention Center. According to the incident report, Parker was charged with Failure to Stop for Blue Lights or Sirens and Reckless Driving.

BLACKSTOCK  – The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office seeks help identifying suspects involved in a burglary that occurred Friday, June 20 at a residence along SC Highway 901 in the Blackstock area.

According to a report, around 2:47 a.m., two individuals were captured on camera entering the home—one had their face covered while the other stood in the doorway.

Deputies processed the scene and collected several pieces of evidence, including DNA swabs and a cut padlock that had been securing the entrance gate. There was visible damage to the front door, and the interior showed signs of being rifled through, according to the Sheriff’s office.

Please contact the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office with any information about this break-in. Tips can remain anonymous: FCSOTipline@gmail.com; 803-815-4191

BLYTHEWOOD – The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) will begin issuing redesigned driver’s licenses, beginner’s permits, and identification cards this fall featuring advanced security features and upgraded materials to better safeguard customer identities and personal information.

The updated cards will be made from stronger materials and incorporate state-of-the-art printing techniques, including laser engraving, making them significantly more resistant to counterfeiting.

The design will also highlight South Carolina symbols, including the iconic Palmetto Tree, the State House, and other state emblems, making the new credentials both secure and symbolic of the Palmetto State.

“This change modernizes the way we produce licenses and ID cards to make them more secure and reduce the chance of counterfeiting,” said Kevin Shwedo, Executive Director of the SCDMV. “First and foremost, these updates will better protect South Carolinians from becoming victims of identity fraud. Additionally, they will provide a more secure and reliable credential for law enforcement, merchants, retailers, and other parties who count on the authenticity of the licenses and identification cards we issue.”

As part of the change, the SCDMV will also centralize the production of all licenses, permits, and ID cards—a process already adopted in at least 45 states and the District of Columbia. Central issuance will enhance service efficiency and allow for the inclusion of high-level security elements previously not feasible on South Carolina-issued credentials.

Beginning this fall, customers will still apply for licenses or ID cards in person at SCDMV branches, presenting required documentation and completing applicable testing. However, under the new process, customers will receive a temporary driving certificate or identification certificate valid for driving, voting, and other uses while awaiting their permanent card to arrive by U.S. mail. Existing cards will be returned to customers with a hole punched through them and may continue to serve as temporary photo identification where accepted.

Important reminders for customers:

• No immediate action is required. Current South Carolina driver’s licenses and identification cards remain valid until their listed expiration dates.
• Customers nearing expiration are encouraged not to wait until the last day to renew, as centrally issued cards will take 7–15 business days to arrive by mail.
• The SCDMV sends renewal notices by mail 90 days prior to expiration to help ensure timely renewal.

Additional details regarding the design and features of the new cards will be announced by the SCDMV in the coming months.

FAIRFIELD CO. – Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill is releasing the names of two women who died from injuries sustained in separate vehicle accidents in Fairfield County.

According to Coroner Hill, 18 year old Morgan Entzminger of Blythewood, SC was involved in a vehicle accident on June 8, 2025 on Hwy 215 N. in Blair, SC. Ms. Entzminger was transported by EMS to Prisma Health Richland Memorial Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries 9 days later.

On Tuesday June 24, 2025, the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office, South Carolina Highway Patrol and Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene of an accident on I-77 near mile marker 46 in Winnsboro, SC. The accident involved a motorcycle and a 18 wheeler.

According to Coroner Chris Hill, 60-year-old Kathleen E. Hodge of Darlington, SC, was the operator of a motorcycle that lost control colliding with the 18 wheeler. Hodge died at the scene, according to the coroner’s report. The accident remains under investigation by the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and South Carolina Highway Patrol.

LAKE WATEREE — Two men were stuck by a vehicle Sunday, June 15, 2025, at approximately 11:34 p.m.at the Molly Creek boat landing.. Deputies with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at the Molly Creek Boat Landing regarding two individuals who had been struck by a vehicle.

When the Fairfield County Sheriff’s office responded to a call about the incident, deputies located two critically injured males lying in the parking area and two other males standing at the scene. Based on preliminary interviews, it was determined that the two victims had been intentionally struck by a vehicle in a fit of rage. Due to the nature of the incident, investigators were immediately summoned.

Both victims were transported to MUSC Fairfield. One of the victims was later transferred to an area hospital for further treatment and remains in critical condition. The second victim, identified by the Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill as Kelvorius Epperson, 28, of Sumter, SC, died from his injuries at MUSC Fairfield Emergency Department.

Through the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the suspect, identified as Rosmann Justilien, 32, of East Calhoun Street in Sumter, SC, was involved in a verbal altercation with the victims that escalated into a physical confrontation. Following the altercation, Justilien entered a Cadillac Escalade and drove toward the victims at an unknown speed, striking and dragging them a distance before coming to a stop, according to deputies. He then circled the parking lot and returned to the area where the victims lay, ultimately crashing into a parking stop, bringing the vehicle to a final stop.

At this time, Rosmann Justilien is charged with Murder and Attempted Murder, and is being held in the Fairfield County Detention Center.

This incident continues to be investigated by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office.

BLYTHEWOOD – After the South Carolina DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) announced on June 3 that it would be closing some of its Blythewood offices located at 10311 Wilson Blvd., on July 7, Mayor Sloan Griffin went on television to offer land on Town of Blythewood property for the DMV to use for a mobile unit to serve Blythewood residents until a permanent solution could be worked out.

In a Facebook post on June 5, Griffin announced that, “I have called a special called meeting of the town council on June 10 at Doko Manor where Executive Director Swedo will join us for a public discussion.

“As part of that meeting,” Griffin wrote, “I’m asking council to consider a resolution calling on state lawmakers to support and fund the development of a permanent SCDMV location within the Town of Blythewood.”

Council members told The Voice that they were never consulted nor aware of the mayor’s land offer prior to the revelation on television, nor had they been notified about a special called council meeting or the proposal for a resolution prior to Griffin’s public Facebook posting.

In the same television news program featuring the interview with Griffin, Shwedo was also interviewed.

“I don’t see the mobile capability as an option at all,” Shwedo said. “The legislature two years ago turned down our request to fully man the mobile capability we have for anything other than for disasters and emergencies…and this doesn’t qualify for either. So, I don’t have the people and I don’t have the monetary resources.”

With no explanation from Griffin, the special called council meeting never materialized. Instead, he held what he called ‘a community conversation’ on June 10, at the Manor and invited Shwedo to attend. At the meeting, there was no accommodation for council members to sit at the front of the room, only a chair and table for Griffin and a podium for Shwedo. Griffin stood during his presentation and introduced council members who were seated in the audience.

In that meeting on Tuesday evening, Griffin encouraged the audience of 12 to listen to Shwedo’s information about the DMV move and then offer any solutions they might have to the issue.

In his opening remarks in regard to specific DMV offices scheduled to move out of Blythewood on July 7, Shwedo stated emphatically: “Is this really going to happen? Yes. Can you change that between now and then? No.

“Bottom Line is, there are five buildings on our complex. Three of them have been sold for a gorgeous high school, and if the pictures are like I see them, it will be such state of the art that every one of you will want your kids and grandkids going there,” Shwedo said. “But I cannot afford the solutions that everybody has with my money.”

In his June 5 Facebook post, Griffin also stated that, “the Mayor and Town Council stand together in strong opposition to the [DMV] closure and in firm support of protecting the services our residents deserve.”

Councilwoman Andrea Fripp and Councilman Rich McKenrick told The Voice that Griffin has not had any discussion at all with council members concerning the issue.

“We were not consulted by the mayor regarding providing land for a mobile unit or a special called meeting prior to the mayor releasing that information to the public,” said Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock.

Shwedo told those in attendance that the new location will be at O’Neil Court which is only 7 minutes away, and that Blythewood residents will still have some of the shortest drive times in the state to alternate DMV offices – 17 minutes to either Shop Road or Winnsboro, and 23 minutes to Ballentine.

“Residents of Mt. Pleasant, the third largest city in South Carolina, have only one office. Their alternate offices include Monks Corner and Georgetown,” Shwedo said.

The DMV closure is resulting, specifically, he said, from reduced parking availability at the Blythewood SCDMV location due to the sale to the school. He said the only offices moving out of the Wilson Blvd. campus are those offering license plates, new and renewal registrations, beginners driving permits, the reissuance of drivers’ licenses with photos, and motor carrier services. The headquarters of SCDMV and the S.C. Department of Public Safety will remain on the campus.

Customers in northeast Richland County will be able to access these services at the SCDMV branch office at 228 O’Neil Court in Columbia or the office at 1161 Kincaid Bridge Road in Winnsboro. The O’Neil Court location will offer expanded services and augmented SCDMV staff to accommodate the anticipated increased demand at that office, according to Shwedo.

Customers can view all office locations and check wait times at SCDMVOnline.com.  The last day of customer service at the Blythewood branch office is July 3.

WINNSBORO – Following a brief manhunt last week, the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety arrested Quinton Martez Adams, charging him with assault after officers say he stabbed another man in the face multiple times.

The incident occurred on June 5 in the parking lot of Cuz’s Corner convenience store on S. Congress Street in Winnsboro. Officers responded to MUSC Fairfield after the victim transported himself there.

According to the incident report, Adams walked over to a car occupied a driver – a man Adams knew – and two passengers. After a brief verbal exchange, Adams went behind a dumpster, grabbed an object, returned to the victim’s car and began to strike the victim in the face multiple times according to the report. A doctor in the MUSC emergency room stated that the wounds appeared to be stab wounds, the report stated.

 On June 6, officers, with assistance from a K-9 unit, tracked Adams through several streets in the Mill Village, apprehending him as he walked south on 321 by-pass.

Adams was transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center, charged with Assault/Assault and Battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was released on a $10,000 surety bond.