COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia Police have charged a former Lexington County Sheriff's Department cadet in a crash that officers say left a man with a traumatic brain injury.
Officers say 43-year-old Robert Barth Garofalo is charged with felony DUI. He was booked at the Richland County Detention Center.
According to police, the incident happened on January 15 at 9 p.m. along Broad River Road. The Lexington County Sheriff's Department said Garofalo was off-duty at the time. Officers say Garofalo was driving down the road when he went off the roadway at Broad River Road and Foxglove Lane. They say he then overcorrect, crossed the double line, and hit the victim's vehicle.
Both the victim and Garofalo were taken to the hospital for their injuries. Police say the man in the other vehicle suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as other injuries affecting his mobility and breathing.
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said Garofalo was a probationary cadet with the sheriff's office and was fired Wednesday, January 25.
“There is a trust that comes with working in the law enforcement profession,” Koon said. “Garofalo broke that trust and we cannot tolerate that.”
