S.C. Deputies Injured, K-9 Trapped when Impaired Driver Hits Cruisers

Two Richland County Sheriff's Office K-9 handlers were monitoring traffic with radar detectors in Columbia when a man accused of driving under the influence crashed into their cruisers at a high rate of speed.

By Noah Feit

Source The State

March 16, 2026

2 min read

What to know

Two Richland County Sheriff’s Department K‑9 deputies were injured early Sunday when an allegedly intoxicated driver crashed into their vehicles as they monitored traffic in Columbia.
The impact from the crash trapped both the suspect and a K‑9 in separate vehicles, and firefighters were needed to extricate them.
The injured deputies have since been released from the hospital and are recovering at home, while the suspect has been charged with DU.

Richland County, SC, Sheriff's Office. — Two Richland County, SC, sheriff's deputies who serve as K-9 handlers were injured when an allegedly impaired driver crashed into their cruisers early Sunday.

Two deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, who are K-9 handlers, were injured early Sunday morning when hit by an intoxicated driver, according to a news release.

The crash happened at about 1:15 a.m. as the deputies were monitoring traffic with radar detectors on the northbound side of I-277, near the Farrow Road exit, the sheriff’s department said. That’s in the downtown Columbia area, not far from the Prisma Health Richland hospital campus.

Nicholas Jackson, 21, was driving a vehicle that ran off I-277 and hit both K-9 vehicles at a high rate of speed, according to the release.

Both Jackson and a sheriff’s department K-9 were entrapped in separate vehicles, according to the release.

Members of the Columbia Fire Department responded to the crash and rescued both the dog and Jackson, the sheriff’s department said.

The K-9 handlers, deputies Richard Jeffcoat and Robert Beary, were injured and taken to an area hospital, according to the release. Jeffcoat and Beary have been released from the hospital and now are home recovering, the sheriff’s department said.

The department’s dogs involved in the wreck, K-9’s Kiro and Raffe were unharmed, according to the release. Fellow K-9 Ribeye was monitored after being entrapped in the vehicle, but has not shown signs of injury, the sheriff’s department said.

EMS took Jackson to the hospital, but he has since been released and charged with DUI by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is investigating the collision, according to the release. No bond has been set for Jackson, who is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, jail records show.

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