| Name |
Dewey Leonard “Len” BETHEA [2, 3, 4] |
| Suffix |
Jr. |
| Birth |
1955 |
Miami, Florida  |
| Gender |
Male |
| HIST |
A 15-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the Sunday night hit-and-run death of a 51-year-old Sumter man. • Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said the boy is being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia on charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, no driver’s license and failure to yield the right of way. • Alcolhol, Patterson said, was not a factor in the incident. • The Sumter boy was taken into custody immediately following the 6:09 p.m. crash on North Main Street at South Pike East that left Dewey “Len” Bethea Jr. dead at the scene from various injuries after a van hit his motorcycle. • He was not wearing a helmet, police said. • Authorities were able to apprehend the juvenile in a grocery store parking lot in the 100 block of East Calhoun Street after a 48-year-old Sumter woman and her 13-years-old daughter followed the van from the scene of the crash. • The woman, whose name is being withheld at the request of authorities, said Monday she didn’t see the crash but heard a thud and screeching tires. • She said she followed the van and its three occupants to the grocery store’s parking lot, where she was able to write down the vehicle’s license plate number and relay that information to police. • “I saw them get out of the van and walk around it like they were checking for damage,” the good Samaritan said. “...I was scared that they were going to get away. You hear about this so much on the news...” • The van’s passengers were not charged in the incident, Patterson said. • The woman said a member of her church died a few years ago in a hit-and-run wreck, and she couldn’t bear the thought of another family suffering from the same tragedy. • “I kept saying, ‘If I can do anything for a family, I’ll do my best,’” she said. • The good Samaritan said she didn’t realize Bethea died during the crash until after she went back to the scene to give a statement to authorities. • “I didn’t get frightened until I realized that,” she said. • Patterson said the woman’s good deed was able to bring closure to Bethea’s family. • “We certainly appreciate and commend her for her due diligence...,” she said. [5] |
| MILI |
he served in the U. S. Navy [2] |
| Occupation |
he was a truck driver for A-1 Mobile Storage [2] |
| Religion |
he was a member of Westside Baptist Church, Sumter, South Carolina |
| _UID |
BFFEFA60E14C4157B910A19AF2EE4D828F75 |
| Death |
12 Nov 2006 |
| Burial |
15 Nov 2006 |
Sumter Cemetery, 700 W. Oakland Avenue, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina [2] |
- Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home & Crematorium, Sumter, South Carolina
|
| Person ID |
I194481 |
Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified |
25 Aug 2016 |
1955 - 2006 (51 years)