Rock Hill man was drunk, fleeing shooting when he crashed into parked car, prosecutor says
A Rock Hill man was drunk when he fled police responding to a shooting before a 2022 crash that left another man with serious injuries, prosecutors said.
That man, 22-year-old Chandler A. Ward, received a five-year prison sentence Wednesday in York County criminal court at the Moss Justice Center. He’ll also serve five years of probation after the prison term.
Ward pleaded guilty to felony DUI causing great bodily injury, and failure to stop for a blue light resulting in great bodily injury.
Marques Wright was standing on Walnut Street March 6, 2022 around 4 a.m. when Ward’s car hit a parked car next to Wright, said prosecutor Matthew Shelton, 16th Circuit senior assistant solicitor. Wright suffered broken legs and ribs as well as injuries to his brain and internal organs, Shelton said.
Rock Hill Police Department officers pursued Ward, who was driving an Audi sedan, in patrol cars after responding to a shooting on Marshall Street before Ward wrecked on Walnut Street, Shelton said.
Ward’s blood alcohol level was .145 and he had THC, a chemical from marijuana use, in his system, Shelton said. The legal alcohol limit in South Carolina is .08. Ward was 20 years old at the time of the crash.
“This was a young man running from the police while drunk,” Shelton said of Ward in court.
The Herald was the only media outlet at Wednesday’s plea and sentencing in court.
‘Be thankful you are alive’
Ward was ejected from his car into a pole and was hurt, court statements showed.
“Mr. Ward, you need to be thankful you are alive and there were no deaths,” Judge Dan Hall told Ward in court.
Ward’s lawyer Chris Wellborn said Ward had no previous criminal record when the crash happened. Ward understands that what he did in fleeing police was “completely wrong,” Wellborn said in court.
“This was a horrible, horrible mistake by a 20-year-old who had too much to drink,” Wellborn said in court.
Ward still faces pending charges from the non-fatal shooting in 2022 before the crash, according to statements in court Wednesday from Shelton and Wellborn.
