Ladson man among thousands of hit-and-run victims awaiting justice

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Trace Clutts was riding his motorcycle to work near Joseph Floyd Manor in downtown Charleston when a white SUV ignored a stop sign, rammed into Clutts and fled the scene.

The crash happened June 28 at Laurel Ave and Mt. Pleasant Street, when Clutts was thrown from his bike and left for dead. He suffered a broken leg and dislocated hip.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Clutts says. “You hit that ground, and you could be dead in an instant. They basically don’t care if you’re dead or alive.”

Nearly a month later, Clutts says Charleston Police have made no arrests in his case, and he’s left with months of recovery ahead of him on top of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

And with no suspect in the case comes no help from the driver’s insurance to cover those bills. Clutts and his family say they’re searching for answers and holding out hope that police will solve the crime.

“You have that little bit of hope, but you don’t think it’s ever really going to happen because, statistically speaking, it’s improbable.”

The statistics he’s referring to: data provided by Charleston Police showing about 76.4% of hit-and-run cases since January 2018 are unsolved. Meanwhile, about 92.5% of cases covered by the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office are unsolved, according to data from 2021 and 2022.

“Those numbers are wild,” Clutts says.

But that’s not all. According to the same data from Charleston Police, authorities made an arrest in 83 out of 1,241 cases in 2022, or 6.7%. That number is even lower so far in 2023 at 3.4%. It should be noted that another 16% of cases involved the victim not wanting to file charges in 2022 and 11.7% so far this year.

Officials with Charleston Police’s Traffic Division say each case is unique, and there are many factors that play a role in the likelihood a case is solved.

In Clutts’ case, surveillance video was able to identify the suspect vehicle was heading onto the on-ramp of I-26. The collision also caused damage to the car, according to the incident report.

A Chevrolet emblem was found in the street, and several broken car parts were left behind, the report states. Police were able to use the evidence to determine it was a “white in color Chevrolet Equinox” manufactured sometime around 2015.

But even with surveillance video and serial numbers from the suspect vehicle, this case is tough to crack.

“It’s kind of a needle in the haystack because you don’t know where that car might come from,” Sgt. Kyle Ryan with Charleston Police’s Traffic Division says. “Especially with Charleston being such a big tourist area and the colleges and everything, you never know.”

Ryan says hit-and-run cases are, by nature, tough to tackle.

“It’s generally a one-off crime. Somebody makes a mistake, they bump into the car, they panic and leave,” Ryan says. “And it’s probably the only time that it’s ever happened to him. It’s not like we have a robbery suspect who’s going around robbing all the liquor stores. They’re not going around and hitting a whole bunch of cars and leaving.”

Ryan does say, however, they might know the exact car involved in the crime and its license plate, but unless a witness can provide an exact description of the person driving, they can’t charge the registered owner for the crime. If there were no witnesses, the chances of solving that case drop tremendously.

In Clutts’ case, the incident report states a witness on scene noticed the suspect vehicle had tinted windows, but they weren’t able to provide a description of the driver.

“That makes the investigation even harder, right?” Ryan says.

Despite police saying they’re working with what they have, Clutts’ family says they don’t think police are doing enough and haven’t heard from investigators since they checked in with him in the hospital nearly a month ago.

“It does feel like there should be some kind of update even if the update is no update,” Amy Kosar says. Kosar’s daughter has been dating Clutts for the last several years.

With no updates from police, Kosar has taken to social media to hopefully find leads of her own in Clutts’ case.

“I would just say it’s tenacity,” Kosar says. “We’re a determined bunch, and really because of the lack of anything else, I just decided to make a post, throw it out there to see what would happen. The world is a really small place, and somebody knows somebody that knows somebody that saw something.”

While his family and friends work on getting leads of their own online, Clutts is left with no answers, a broken leg and dislocated hip. While his medical bills pile up, he says solving his case isn’t just about the money.

“It does feel like there should be some kind of update even if the update is no update,” Amy Kosar says.

Kosar’s daughter has been dating Clutts for the last several years.

With no updates from police, Kosar has taken to social media to hopefully find leads of her own in Clutts’ case.

“I would just say it’s tenacity,” Kosar says. “We’re a determined bunch, and really because of the lack of anything else, I just decided to make a post, throw it out there to see what would happen. The world is a really small place, and somebody knows somebody that knows somebody that saw something.”

While his family and friends work on getting leads of their own online, Clutts is left with no answers, a broken leg and dislocated hip. While his medical bills pile up, he says solving his case isn’t just about the money.

“I don’t necessarily care about the money, but I want people to understand it can cause fatalities. It’s more of a morality thing than a discipline,” Clutts says.

Back at the Traffic Division’s headquarters, Ryan emphasizes hit-and-runs are tough cases, but they never give up and will open a case back up anytime they learn something new.

“A little a little bit of patience can go a long way,” Ryan says. “Especially with anything with within the criminal realm. When we’re trying to investigate and make sure that we have everything documented along the way, that we have all the proper evidence that we need to bring a case into the courtroom. It’s not like it’s not like you see on TV… it doesn’t happen in that 24-hour segment. They do take time to put together and make sure that they’re put together right.”

In efforts to put Clutts’ unsolved case to rest, Charleston police are asking you reach out to them if you think you have any information.

Kosar emphasizes resources are out there if you’re involved in a hit-and-run, including Charleston’s 211 helpline.

‘A WORK IN PROGRESS’

While police emphasize patience with each case, Ryan says there are more tangible solutions police are working on to solsolveves hit-and-run cases.

Charleston Police have access to 32 license-plate reading cameras all across the city. The devices read every license plate on every car as it passes by, and it’s a way police say they can track a car from the scene of the crime to their destination.

The cameras are made by Flock Safety and dubbed ‘Flock Cameras,’ and they’ve even used them in the past to solve hit-and-run cases. But, they want more.

In Clutts’ case, there was a lone surveillance camera a block away, and it wasn’t able to capture the license plate involved in that incident. Charleston police say they’re wanting to get more of these cameras but don’t have a specific number because they’re waiting on financial and engineering information.

Again, in Clutts’ case, the white SUV hit Clutts and continued to the on-ramp of I-26. Hypothetically, if the driver were heading to North Charleston and police had a camera to scan that car’s license plate, they’d be able to request assistance from North Charleston Police and their system of city-wide cameras and track the suspect to their destination.

Police say there is no timeline right now on if or when more Flock Cameras will be installed around the city, but it’s a “work in progress.”

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