Man driving with no lights before deadly crash is sentenced to prison, SC officials say

A South Carolina man drove without headlights before his minivan slammed head-on into a pickup truck, officials said.

Now, three years after the deadly crash, the minivan driver has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, according to Spartanburg-area prosecutors.

Officials said the driver — Ryan P. Severa — is now ordered to serve 17 years behind bars. In response to emailed questions from McClatchy News, attorney Ricky Harris wrote: “I think that the sentence is substantial but fair.”

The case dates to Aug. 26, 2019, when prosecutors said Severa was driving north on U.S. Highway 221. His minivan went across the center line and ran into a pickup truck that had been going south, according to the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

The driver of the pickup died at the scene. He was identified in a news release as 66-year-old Glen Calvert Perkins of Pauline, roughly 10 miles southeast of Spartanburg.

Perkins’ wife was taken to a hospital with critical injuries, according to officials.

During an investigation, state troopers reportedly found an open bourbon bottle in Severa’s minivan. He also was seen drinking alcohol and driving without headlights before the crash at about 8:30 p.m., just as twilight was ending, according to prosecutors and the U.S. military’s historic sunset records.

“Prior to the wreck, Severa broke into a U-Haul storage business about a mile away from the wreck,” the solicitor’s office wrote in its release. “Surveillance video showed Severa beating on the door of the business before shattering a glass window with a kick. Severa appeared unsteady on his feet and under the influence of alcohol when he fell on the floor.”

After the crash, officials said Severa was “extricated from the wreckage and taken to the hospital.” State investigators found that Severa’s blood alcohol level was 0.15, while the hospital’s test said it was 0.245, according to prosecutors.

In South Carolina, the legal driving limit is 0.08, meaning Severa is accused of being up to 3 times that level.

Severa, a 26-year-old Spartanburg resident, “pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence involving death, felony driving under the influence involving great bodily injury and malicious injury to personal property,” officials said. He was given a $12,500 fine and must serve at least 85% of his prison sentence before he can be released.

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