Tower Down - 12.27.23 (SC) "Updated 04.08.24"

[TowForce]

Tow truck driver killed in hit and run in Jasper Co.

 

 

JASPER COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) — The Jasper County Coroner’s Office said that a tow truck driver was killed while assisting a motorist on Dec. 27.

The coroner identified the victim as 39-year-old Eric Albertson of Ridgeland.

 

The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) said that the incident happened at around 6:23 p.m. on Frontage Rd. about two miles north of Ridgeland.

 

SCHP said Albertson was struck by a vehicle that left the scene.

 

This is a developing story.

RESOURCE LINK

 

 

Tow truck driver killed by hit-and-run driver while assisting motorist in Ridgeland

 

A tow truck operator responding to a call from a disabled motorist was killed by a hit-and-run driver Wednesday at 6:32 p.m. on Frontage Rd. approximately two miles north of Ridgeland, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol Community Relations Officer Master Trooper Brandon Bolt.

 

The area where accident took place is north of the Ridgeland Correctional Institution.

 

Jasper County Coroner Willie P. Aiken provided the name of the victim as Eric Albertson, 39, of Ridgeland.

 

Albertson was an employee of A-1 Towing and the company confirmed that he was out on a call, assisting a disabled motorist. They described Albertson as a loyal employee who had worked for the company three years.

 

This accident is under investigation by the South Carolina State Highway Patrol.

 

RESOURCE LINK

 

 

SCHP looking for suspect involved in hit and run in Edgefield County

 

DGEFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (WJBF) – The South Carolina Highway Patrol is looking for the suspect involved in a hit and run in Edgefield County.

 

According to SCHP, the incident happened on Sunday, December 24th around 10:15 P.M. on U.S. 25, which is Edgefield Road, near Amelia Drive.

 

Authorities state that the unknown vehicle was traveling south on U.S. 25 when it struck a pedestrian, and the suspect fled the scene.

 

According to SCHP, the pedestrian received serious injuries as a result of the collision.

 

Authorities say the vehicle is possible a SVU type vehicle, and it may have damage to the passenger side mirror.

 

RESOURCE LINK

 

 

Search on for driver who hit, killed tow truck driver in South Carolina, troopers say

 

The crash happened near Ridgeland on Wednesday.

 

JASPER COUNTY, S.C. —

A tow truck driver was hit and killed in Jasper County, South Carolina, while on the job, and troopers continue to search for the vehicle and driver involved.

 

The crash happened at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Frontage Road, approximately 2 miles north of Ridgeland.

 

The victim, 39-year-old Eric Albertson of Ridgeland, was standing outside of his work tow truck preparing to tow a utility trailer in the southbound lane when a vehicle traveling in the northbound lane hit him, according to the Jasper County Coroner's Office.

 

The South Carolina Highway Patrol said the driver who hit Albertson left the scene of the collision.

 

 

 

[SammyWebber]

So sorry for families,  that close by, that not a heavy travel rd.

[5towman]

Very sorry. Our heart goes out to his family and friends. 

[mooresbp]

Our thoughts and prayers

[Doreen ur Finance Lady]

Our hearts goes out to his family and friends 🙏 

Sending prayers 

[TowForce]

Lowcountry towing company seeking answers after driver killed in hit-and-run

 

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - Employees of a tow truck company are rallying together after one of their own was killed in a hit-and-run crash. Now coworkers and friends are searching far and wide for answers.

On Dec. 27, 2023, the South Carolina Highway Patrol reported the death of tow truck driver Eric Albertson along the I-95 corridor, on Frontage Road, a few miles north of Ridgeland in Jasper County. The vehicle involved was heading north toward Walterboro at the time of the crash.

Investigators with the South Carolina Highway Patrol believe the car involved was a dark or metallic Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Friends are sharing that information across the internet, reaching hundreds of miles up and down the interstate looking for justice for Albertson.

“I’m a nighttime dispatcher and a couple of my drivers the night it happened, while they’re being informed of what had happened, were very disheartened,” Mike Corley, a friend and coworker of Albertsons says.

Alberson was helping a stranded customer on the side of the road when it happened. Corley says Albertson, nicknamed “PK” to his friends, loved his job. Albertson was excited to be using a new piece of equipment to help the customer moments before he was struck and killed. The customer described Albertson to the company owner as ‘like a kid on Christmas’ that night.

“He was just so happy to be able to do that. He was explaining to him every step of the way. I’m going to do this, we’re going to do that. That was just him… normal, every day, you know he really loved his job. He was very good at it. And, you know, he was one of the best record drivers I knew professionally,” Corley says.

A1 Towing is rallying around Albertson. Employees each have a custom sweatshirt with their names, Albertson’s name and end-of-watch date. They wore the coordinating sweatshirts to his funeral, where the company suspended operations for the day.

“Personally, you know, he was a great guy, he always had that big ole smile on his face. That gleam in his eye and it’s kind of indescribable, but you know, he always had a gleam, and he always had that smile,” Corley says.

Albertson’s friends and coworkers say the former Marine was excited about his job, enjoyed coaching youth sports, and was a loving husband and father. Corley says he never expected something this tragic to happen to his friend, who was so alert on the roads.

“Everybody’s so more concerned about being in a hurry for their own personal reasons. And they just don’t care. You know, and I know I’m saying that bluntly. But essentially a lot of times that’s the issue,” Corley says.

It is the law of the road to move over a lane, if you can, and slow down for any flashing lights of any color on the side of the road.

“You see flashing lights, red and blue people, pay attention. Amber and white. ‘What is that?’ Like whatever, you know, they care less and it’s terrible,” Corley says.

A1 Towing is offering a reward to anyone who provides tips that lead to an arrest in Albertson’s case.

RESOURCE LINK

 

 

[SammyWebber]

It so sad this is happening,  people's are so not paying attention to the roads anymore,  they kept putting more stuff oncar to take there eyes off the road! My prayers go out to the families. 

[TowForce]

Ridgeland man charged in hit-and-run that killed Lowcountry tow truck driver in December

State troopers have arrested a Ridgeland resident in a hit-and-run that killed a Lowcountry tow truck operator and Marine veteran in late December. A1 Towing employee Eric “P.K.” Albertson, 39, was fatally struck while assisting a customer on the side of West Frontage Road.

 

Joshua Jamaal Frazier, 36, was charged Wednesday with fleeing the scene of the fatal hit-and-run. Trooper Nick Pye of the S.C. Highway Patrol could not immediately answer questions about how Frazier was found or whether he turned himself in.

 

The deadly collision occurred after sundown on Dec. 27, as Albertson helped a disabled motorist about two miles north of Ridgeland town limits. In a plea for information released a few days later, the Highway Patrol described the suspect vehicle as a dark gray Chevrolet Trailblazer from 2002-2009.

 

At Albertson’s funeral service on Jan. 10, dozens of tow trucks and motorcycles drove down Robert Smalls Parkway as part of the man’s “last ride.” He received full military honors for his 12-year service in the Marines.

 

Albertson had three children with his wife Samantha and had worked at A1 Towing for three years. Friends, family and others in the industry described him as a loyal employee and an unyielding positive presence.

 

“He was always happy, down to do business and he didn’t play around,” said Edwin GaNun, the owner of Roadside Angel Towing in Walterboro. GaNun had frequently interacted with Albertson on the job, he told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

 

Jasper County court records show Frazier pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree burglary and felony assault and battery, receiving a two-week prison sentence followed by five years of probation.

 

RESOURCE LINK

[TowForce]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6cCm0bzUk