Police say it began Friday afternoon with a minor collision. In the middle there were several others. It ended with an SUV-type truck resting on top of a police cruiser.

It was a bizarre series of incidents involving at least six car crashes, the last when a deputy rammed an SUV, leaving a lot of people asking "Did I just see that?"

"It was something to see," Orangeburg businessman Kenny Moseley said. "It was something you'd see on TV, but we see it here."

Somewhere between 75 and 100 spectators gathered in the Edisto Village Shopping Center around a late-model GMC Denali which was resting atop a Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser belonging to the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office.

A 31-year-old Columbia man, Kevin Johnson, was charged with failure to stop for a blue light, driving under suspension and driving under the influence.

At one point, as investigators were exchanging notes on the lengthy sequence of events, a red truck in the middle of rubbernecking traffic drove slowly past with two occupants. With their windows down, the pair burst into laughter at the SUV/patrol car pile-up.

"How you do that?" one man yelled from the truck.

Police said the answer to that question isn't easy. They're still sorting out the details.

But from what they know, it began on Edisto Drive south of town with a minor car crash involving two cars.

"We got a call at about 2:30 (p.m.), dispatch put out an all-points bulletin on a truck that might have been involved in a small 10-50 (car accident)," said Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office Capt. Michael Bartley. "Our deputies located the SUV on Edisto Drive."

But for some reason, the driver of the vehicle didn't stop for one blue light, Bartley said. Nor even two. He took off, leading deputies, and eventually city police and state troopers, on a chase through Orangeburg.

During the course of that chase, the SUV collided with two vehicles at the junction of John C. Calhoun Drive and Broughton Street; another car was struck in front of Capt. Pete's restaurant on John C. Calhoun Drive; and one more was hit at the intersection of Highway 301 and the U.S. 21 bypass.

The next few miles down Joe Jeffords Highway remained accident free, as did the jaunt down Rowesville Road and back again.

However, back in town, that streak of good luck ended when there was another collision in front of Cherry's Propane on lower John C. Calhoun Drive. Luck really ran out when the vehicle struck an 18-wheel tanker at the junction of Stonewall Jackson Boulevard and Highway 301.

About 250 yards from the brush with the tanker, the vehicle careened left in what may have been an attempt to jump the curb and enter the parking lot of Edisto Village. But an OCSO deputy rammed the SUV, sending it up on its left side.

Moseley said he was in the back of his business when he heard a noise in front that caused him to rush up front.

"I thought it was a plane flying over," he said. "When he came by all you could see was the dust from the road. He didn't have but two tires. He was flying when he come by."

Antoine Owens said he didn't have far to go when the chase ended. He was there.

"He (the SUV driver) tried to make a U-turn and the police car got up under him," Owens said.

Admittedly, Susie Hampton was "just being nosey," but when the GMC came past her leading a parade of police near Rowesville Road, she had to find out what was happening.

"I said, 'He's just trying to outrun the police,'" Hampton said.

Outrun the police? At speeds up to 75 miles per hour, according to Moseley.

But why?

"We have no idea yet," Bartley said. "We haven't talked to him yet."

Johnson was transported to the hospital for an evaluation.

Meantime, troopers with the S.C. Highway Patrol say no major injuries were sustained in the other collisions.

David Stroman was passing by the scene as the crowd around it grew. He wondered aloud about the officer.

"Did that policeman get hurt? You see the car up under the truck?" Stroman said.

The name of the deputy who rammed the SUV was not disclosed.

"I can't give out his name," Bartley said. "For preventative measures, we will have him taken to a local medical facility and have him evaluated for the safety of this officer."

The officer did appear to be in good shape. He was walking around with no visible limps or injuries.

In addition to the officer's efforts, "it was the cooperation of the three agencies involved, the city, county and the Highway Patrol, that brought this ordeal to an end," said Sheriff Larry Williams.

All in all, there seems to be a feeling of relief that Orangeburg may just have avoided what could of been a disastrous day.

"This could of been any one of us," Stroman said of the multiple car crashes. "You have people with families, school's about to get out.

"He just didn't have no care."

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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