CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A growing trend in South Carolina: when the criminal courts deliver little accountability, victims are turning to civil lawsuits for answers.

A Charleston man who survived a devastating crash that left him with 22 broken bones has found accountability through a civil lawsuit after the criminal justice system delivered what he calls inadequate punishment.

Travis ODell was awarded millions of dollars this month from Andrew Melton Demetre, the driver who struck him, and multiple Charleston bars that overserved Demetre the night of the May 13, 2022, crash .

A speeding bullet

ODell was driving a pedicab in downtown Charleston when Demetre, then 22, struck him with a black BMW traveling about 75 mph near the intersection of Meeting and George Streets.

“Within eig

See Full Page