Bamberg County driver wins funds for goof that got her arrested
BAMBERG, S.C. (WCSC) - The state of South Carolina has settled a lawsuit filed by a Bamberg County woman who says she was falsely charged with driving with a suspended license.
The state’s Insurance Reserve Fund paid $12,500 to driver April Collins on behalf of the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles after Collins alleged the situation caused her “catastrophic physical and emotional suffering.”
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Collins was booked into the Orangeburg County jail, where she happened to be working at the time.
A 2021 lawsuit details how she received a “minor” speeding ticket in May 2018 and later paid a $76.88 fine in August of that year. The lawsuit also included documentation stating her license would specifically not be suspended even if she did not pay the fine.
But Collins said she had no idea her license was listed as suspended in the DMV’s system, leading to her arrest by the South Carolina Highway Patrol in January 2019. Collins claimed she was “publicly humiliated” and that the situation was “horrible, traumatizing and injurious.”
DMV spokesman Michael Fitts declined to comment on the settlement.
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