NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – An early morning accident caused all three lanes of southbound Highway 17 at 9th Avenue South in North Myrtle Beach to close.
Around 4:30 Thursday morning, a North Myrtle Beach police officer responded to the wreck at the intersection of 37th Avenue South and South Hwy 17. Police say a white van stopped at the intersection with the driver slumped over the wheel.
Police say the white Ford van was stopped in a northbound lane on Hwy 17 South. The driver was unresponsive and resting against the steering wheel. The front seat passenger was unresponsive as well. The van was still in drive and the driver had his foot on the brake pedal. The officer tried to wake the driver but couldn’t. The officer then woke the passenger up and asked him to put the vehicle in park. The passenger was confused though and adjusted radio instead and then passed out.
The officer again partially woke the passenger and again instructed him to put the vehicle in park, but the passenger told the officer that he was fine and again passed out.
The driver began to slowly wake up. The officer again identified himself to the driver and asked him to put the van in park. The driver was extremely lethargic and appeared confused and disoriented. The officer told the driver several more times to put the vehicle in park; however, the driver instead began to roll forward through the intersection, traveling northbound.
The officer tried to pull the van over. The van swerved on the road multiple times, went partially on the sidewalk, almost hitting several utility poles.
As the van approached 9th Avenue South, the officer saw it drift across two lanes, drift through the center median, and then continue across the southbound lanes. The van then collided with a Ford pickup truck in a southbound lane. The van then went off the road and hit a utility pole, traveled down an embankment, and came to a final stop along the edge of a storm water retention pond.
Officers got both men out of the van. The driver is identified as Kajuan Divine Jefferson, and the passenger was identified as Andres Anibal Mercado Otero. Otero complained of pain “all over his body”. Medics took him to Grand Strand Medical Center by medics.
Police said Jefferson had a blood alcohol content of .15. Police arrested him for DUI, Failure to Stop and Travelling Left of Center. He’s in the North Myrtle Beach jail.
Medics took the two people in the pickup truck to Grand Strand Medical Center.
