One Killed in Sunday Crash, Driver Charged with DUI

A man from Saluda, South Carolina was killed Sunday morning in a car accident on Highway 178.

According to South Carolina Highway Patrol Lieutenant Corporal Bill Rhyne, the 23 year-old Jasper Wendell Robinson was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Melvin Thomas Mathis, 23, when the crash occurred. Mathis was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe south on Highway 178, near McKenzie Road, shortly after 3:00 a.m. this morning when he lost control of the vehicle, ran off the right side of the road and struck a telephone junction call box, which caused the vehicle to overturn, Rhyne said.

Two other men from Saluda, 23 year-old Gregory Gilliam and 23 year-old Ricardo Gantt were in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Mathis, Gilliam, and Gnatt were transported to Self Regional Medical Center after sustaining minor injuries. Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, according to the Greenwood County Coroner’s Office.

Mathis was charged with felony DUI and booked at the Greenwood County Detention Center at 7:40 a.m. Sunday.

An autopsy for Robinson will be performed Monday morning in Anderson.