By admin 
A driver arrested and charged with hit-and-run after striking a University of South Carolina student who was crossing Harden Street in Five Points this past October stopped to offer aid but was asked by the student not to call the police, the driver’s attorney Todd Rutherford said.
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Ron Vinson struck USC rising junior Maya Trowbridge with his vehicle Oct. 31 as she was walking through a new Harden Street crosswalk outside of Eddie’s Calzones – a restaurant just past the Five Points fountain.
Trowbridge suffered numerous injuries including a fractured hip, her attorney Drew Richardson previously told The State Newspaper.
Vinson was arrested and charged with hit-and-run and failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk following the Oct. 31 collision, according to an arrest warrant and bail paperwork obtained by The State.
He was released from jail Nov. 1, 2025 on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
Rutherford, a local high-profile attorney and a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, said evidence will show that his client did not commit a crime, and that he did exit his vehicle to offer Trowbridge help but was rebuffed.
“He stopped, he rendered aid, and when the alleged victim in this case said she was fine and didn’t want the police called and walked off, he drove off,” Rutherford said.
Trowbridge is suing the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the city of Columbia over the design of the Harden Street crosswalk, alleging that the entities were negligent in the design and testing of the crosswalk.
Trowbridge and a friend entered the crosswalk after one driver stopped and waved them across, but Vinson driving in the far lane continued driving through the crosswalk and hit her, the lawsuit states.
Rutherford added that Vinson did attempt to stop when he saw Trowbridge, but that he could not swerve out of the way because of the new median recently installed down the length of Harden Street.
The collision occurred around 6:30 p.m. Oct. 31, the Columbia Police Department confirmed. The sun set at 6:32 p.m. that day, according to government records.
Rutherford noted that the fading light added to Vinson’s not being able to see Trowbridge sooner.
The allegations in Trowbridge’s lawsuit differ from Rutherford’s account.
In her lawsuit, Trowbridge alleges that Vinson “stopped his vehicle for a brief amount of time and then drove away from the location of the accident without assisting” her.
Rutherford said that is not correct and that Vinson did attempt to offer help.
Vinson’s arrest warrant states that a witness told police that Vinson “asked if the victim was okay, but left when someone was calling 911.”
Vinson’s criminal case is still pending as he awaits his day in court, Rutherford said.
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His criminal proceedings are separate from the civil lawsuit Trowbridge has filed against SCDOT and the city of Columbia.
The State has contacted Trowbridge’s attorney about the claim that Vinson offered help but was asked not to call the police.
Questions about pedestrian safety
The incident has raised questions about the effectiveness of a $5 million overhaul of Harden Street completed last July, meant to make the roadway safer for pedestrians. The project was launched after a 2019 study found the Five Points stretch of Harden Street was the state’s most dangerous street for pedestrians.
The project included reducing lanes and adding new intended safety features like mid-block signalized crosswalks that require pedestrians to press a button to activate warning lights.
Trowbridge’s lawsuit against SCDOT and Columbia alleges that the entities were negligent in the design and testing of the crosswalk.
Among Trowbridge’s claims are that the Department of Transportation and the city of Columbia “knew or should have known … that a pedestrian-activated crosswalk system dependent on a pedestrian pressing a button – without adequate notice or a continuously active warning – creates an extremely hazardous condition for pedestrians who are unaware of or unable to activate the system.”
The lawsuit also states that drivers traveling down Harden Street “would not have anticipated that a crosswalk would have been located at an area other than [at] a vehicular intersection.”
SCDOT denied those claims in a legal filing. An attorney for the agency has not responded to a request for comment from The State Newspaper.
SCDOT and the city have asked a judge to dismiss Trowbridge’s lawsuit, claiming that she was negligent because she did not press the button.
The SCDOT, in a legal filing responding to Trowbridge’s suit, said her claims “should be barred by her own negligence and recklessness … in failing to activate the caution lights at the intersection before using the crosswalk (and) in failing to keep a proper lookout when crossing Harden Street.”
Trowbridge’s attorney rejected that argument, saying she was simply using the SCDOT-installed crosswalk built to make Harden Street safer for pedestrians.
Trowbridge is demanding a jury trial against SCDOT and the city, as well as punitive and actual monetary damages.
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