Car crashes into house

LADSON -- Sharon Ware was in her living room Tuesday morning when what sounded like an explosion rocked her Crowfield Villages duplex.

The crash came from the front bedroom, where Ware's sister had been just moments before.

"I thought she was gone," Ware said of her sister. "When she hollered she was all right, I ran to her."

The pair went outside and saw the rear of a green Honda sticking out of the front of the Miami Street house. The car had barreled into their neighbor's bedroom and pierced the shared wall of Ware's front bedroom.

"It went 'boom' like an explosion," Sharon Ware said. "The whole house just pushed back. I thought the bedroom was on fire."

The S.C. Highway Patrol charged 29-year-old Kenneth Scott Dickerson of Ladson with second-offense DUI.

He was taken to Trident Medical Center where he was listed in good condition.

Authorities said the driver of the car had been speeding, a problem residents say is common on the community's narrow streets.

Neighbor Wendy Burnside said she was in her car about a half-mile up the road from the crash scene when a green Honda sped by.

Burnside said she knew the car was going to wreck when it hit the curb and went up on two wheels.

She then told her daughter and her daughter's friend to get out of the car while she investigated.

She asked the neighbors if anyone saw the car speeding by. "They said, 'Yes, it's in the house.' "

Members of the neighborhood crime watch said they've asked the Berkeley County sheriff several times to enforce the speed limit in the neighborhood. They say one or two deputies may come out for a while and then disappear again. They say they've also requested speed bumps or more stop signs.

Dan Moon, public information officer for the Sheriff's Office, said the neighborhood is patrolled by deputies on a regular basis, but there is no way to predict when something like this is going to occur.

He said the department is concerned about traffic safety, especially where there are young children playing or waiting on school buses, and that it will continue to enforce the traffic laws in this neighborhood and all others.

Reach Andy Paras at 937-5589 or aparas@postandcourier.com.