No way criminal court can prove Clemson football players raced before accident, police chief says

Karen Alvarez had just passed Clemson United Methodist Church on Highway 123, delivering mail along her route, when a Dodge Charger smashed into the back of her U.S. Postal Service truck.

The truck careened across the roadway into oncoming traffic, flipped over the guardrail and came to a stop on the shoulder. Alvarez was upside down, dangling by her seatbelt and partially outside the truck, when help arrived.

It was 3:03 p.m. on July 21, 2021. The single mother of three suffered fractures of her skull, spine, pelvis, rib and clavicle.

Fred Davis, a Clemson University football player, was subsequently charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor that carries a 30-day jail sentence and/or a $200 fine.

Clemson Police said he had been traveling at 110 mph, more than twice the speed limit, braked and hit the postal vehicle at 70 mph.

Davis has asked for a jury trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

What was suspected at the time, but not publicly spoken about until last week when a civil lawsuit was filed, was the allegation that Davis and teammate Malcolm Greene had been racing down the highway through the city of Clemson.

“Defendants’ conduct on Jan. 21, 2021, was abnormally dangerous, was intrinsically dangerous, not a common activity, and one that created a foreseeable and highly significant risk of physical harm even when reasonable care is exercised by all actors,” Alvarez’s lawsuit said.

Attorneys for Davis and Greene have not responded to the lawsuit yet.

Clemson Police Chief Jorge Campos said Monday people have criticized his department for what seems to be a light charge for a serious injury.

He doesn’t deny that but says state law is to blame. None of the statutes mentioned in the civil lawsuit can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court.

The only way to know they were racing would be for them to say they were, Campos said. The lawsuit specifically says two drivers were trying to outdo one another.

“It’s like you’re driving to Atlanta and three cars pass you,” Campos said. “Are they racing or traveling in a pack.”

Civil court has less stringent requirements for a guilty verdict.

The lawsuit says in addition to racing, the defendants were speeding, passing in an unsafe manner, and weaving in and out of traffic. Campos said Davis lost control of the Charger before he hit Alvarez. It appeared she was trying to get out of his way.

She has no memory of the actual accident. Campos said, but the investigation included witnesses who saw the car before and after as well as surveillance video from the church.

Campos said the Clemson city attorney and the Solicitor’s Office concurred the reckless driving charge was appropriate.

The real problem, he said, is state law.

There are two reckless driving charges, the misdemeanor Davis faces and felony reckless driving resulting in death of serious disfigurement such as losing a limb.

Campos has advocated for an enhancement to the law to include serious bodily injury as many states have. It was proposed by Rep. Jerry Carter of Pickens County, but did not make it out of committee.

“These egregious and aggressive driving acts that result in serious injury to another need to have an appropriate penalty. In most cases, the injured suffer much pain, multiple medical procedures, lengthy recovery times, and whose freedom to live life injury free are taken from them,” Campos said in a news release when Davis was arrested.

He said often the person who caused such an accident is free to go on with their life.

Davis played in the Clemson-Boston College game on Saturday and nine of 13 games in 2021.

Alvarez, after hospitalization, spent time in rehab and will have permanent injuries, the lawsuit said. Her father came up from their hometown Milledgeville, Georgia, to help her in the aftermath.

Margaret Thompson, a retired Pickens County sheriff’s deputy who spearheaded a fundraising effort for Alvarez, said Monday the community came together and raised more than $30,000.

“That’s just what we do,” she said. “It really bothered me what happened to her.”

The Seneca Journal also helped with the effort, contributing money and keeping the story in the public eye, Thompson said.

“I never expected it,” The Journal quoted Alvarez as saying. “I’ve been wanting to put ‘thank you’ notes in mailboxes. People are great around here.”

Alvarez has recovered enough to return to work at the Clemson Post Office.