A Richland County Sheriff's deputy cleared of wrongdoing in a fatal accident in June has not worked since the accident, and it is unclear if and when he will return to duty.
However, Sheriff Leon Lott said the deputy's history of car wrecks will not keep him from returning to his job if medical doctors determine he is able to work.
Deputy George Mickens broke both arms and dislocated both elbows in a June 30 accident in Sumter in which his patrol car struck a Cadillac Escalade driven by Philip Hawkins of Sumter. Hawkins, 67, died at the scene. A S.C. Highway Patrol investigation into the accident found that Mickens had a seizure while driving, and 3rd Circuit Solicitor Ernest Finney III determined the case did not warrant criminal prosecution.
The investigation revealed a history of accidents involving Mickens. He has been involved in six wrecks since 2002, according to copies of S.C. Department of Motor Vehicle accident reports obtained by The State. He twice was issued traffic tickets. And in five cases, he was driving a police car either owned by the Richland County Sheriff's Department or the Sumter County Sheriff's Department, for which he previously worked.
However, Mickens has never been in trouble for his driving while employed by Richland County, Lott said.
"These are not major accidents," the sheriff said of the earlier wrecks. "They happen in the course of driving, especially as much as deputies drive."
Mickens, 36, is on medical leave as he continues to rehabilitate his broken arms. In addition to his physical recovery, Mickens is struggling psychologically with the severity of June's fatal accident, Lott said. He must be cleared by a doctor before he returns to duty and before he is allowed to drive a patrol car.
Mickens, who lives in Sumter, was driving his Richland County patrol car on U.S. 76/378 to get to magistrate's court in Eastover, according to the investigation conducted by the S.C. Highway Patrol's specialized accident investigation team.
Witnesses described seeing Mickens' patrol car accelerate and then drive over a concrete island at the intersection of U.S. 76/378 and S.C. 441 near Shaw Air Force Base. His car knocked down a road sign and then hit Hawkin's SUV broadside as Hawkins, who had the green light, was waiting to turn left, according to the report. The SUV went airborne and flipped. Mickens' patrol car lost momentum and skidded to a stop on the other side of the intersection.
In a taped interview with investigators, Mickens told them he remembered driving and thinking about stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. But he does not remember the accident.
He also told investigators that he had suffered a seizure three years earlier while working a security detail inside a bank on Garners Ferry Road.
Lott knew about the previous seizure but said doctors had determined that Mickens was fit for duty and able to drive.
"We depend on what the medical doctors tell us," Lott said.
As for Mickens' prior accidents, he told highway patrol investigators that his "immaturity" as a young deputy contributed to some of the accidents. But he said others were beyond his control. At least one wreck involved deer, he said, although deer are not mentioned in any of the accident reports.
In a 2006 wreck, he rear-ended another driver who was stopped at a traffic signal. In that case, Mickens said he was driving with his blue lights on when the other driver suddenly stopped in front of him.
Mickens was cited in 2005 for making an unlawful turn while driving his personal car in Columbia. In 2004, while driving a Sumter County patrol car, he was ticketed for failure to yield while pulling into oncoming traffic after checking on a disabled car on the side of the road.
Mickens' other accidents include hitting a parked car in 2009 in the Richland County Sheriff's Department parking lot, getting rear-ended in 2006 and skidding off the road in 2002 after driving too fast around a wet curve while responding to a police call, according to reports.
When Lott hired Mickens in 2004, he was warned of Mickens' driving history during routine, pre-employment background checks, Lott said.
Supervisors at the Sumter County Sheriff's Department said Mickens was dependable but had been transferred from serving as a road deputy to a family court deputy because of his accidents, Lott said. The Sumter County supervisors said the move was made to "salvage a good employee," Lott said.
However, Lott said that did not deter him from hiring Mickens. The newspaper's attempts to reach officials at the Sumter County Sheriff's Department were unsuccessful.
At the Richland County Sheriff's Department, a board reviews all accidents involving deputies, Lott said. If a deputy is found to be at fault, the disciplinary action can range from taking a defensive driving course to having a patrol car taken away, he said.
But Mickens had never been in trouble at the sheriff's department for his driving, Lott said. The deputy has not received any traffic tickets since he started working in Richland County.
"There's nothing that's happened since he's been employed with us that would indicate he's not a safe driver," Lott said. "His past history of driving has nothing to do with the fact that he had a seizure when this accident happened."
Copyright 2011 - The State, Columbia, S.C.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
