Orangeburg man charged with the hit and run of a SC Highway Patrol trooper

Marion Lee Turner, lll / Source: OCSO

(Courtesy: OCSO) Marion Lee Turner, lll

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WOLO) — The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office says an Orangeburg man is charged with the hit and run at a SC Highway Patrol traffic during a traffic safety checkpoint earlier this month.

Marion Lee Turner, lll, 23, is charged with two counts of attempted murder by the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. Turner is also charged by the SC Highway Patrol with failure to stop for a blue light and reckless driving.

On June 10 SC Highway Patrol troopers were conducting a traffic checkpoint near Till and Langley roads in Orangeburg County, a remote area east of Orangeburg.

Around 11 p.m. a dark-colored Honda initially approached the troopers before stopping, then reversing.

As troopers attempted to get the driver to stop through verbal commands, he placed the vehicle in drive and sped forward, plowing through and striking one trooper.

SC Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Gleich told the court during a hearing on Wednesday that as looked over to his partner lying on the ground as the car sped away, he didn’t know if his partner was dead.

“(Turner) tried to kill both of us that night,” Gleich said.

“He knew he hit me,” SCHP Trooper Micheal Burgess stated, seated in a wheelchair. “I had eye contact as I rolled over the hood.” Burgess stated since that night, he’s been unable to work, drive or do “anything else.”

Turner was picked out of a line up after information was developed as to who drove the vehicle that night.

The car was seized after it was located just over a week after the troopers were hit.