IN SPORTS: Sumter High opens football region play against South Florence B1 SPECIAL SECTION
Projects to tackle this autumn Fall FIX-UP 2016, see page C1 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
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Authorities still searching for Carter, asking for help BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark and Sheriff Anthony Dennis talk about the chase and shootout with Dontrell Montese Carter and the efforts to apprehend him.
Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said Carter struck the victim several times in the face before leaving the residence and traveling to her Local authorities are seeking the public’s help in uncle’s residence on Jerry Street, shooting at the locating 25-year-old Dontrell Montese Carter, who house about 1:10 a.m. and driving away. is wanted in a domestic violence incident and for A Sumter police officer spotted Carter’s Honda firing at officers and civilians in the early hours of Accord at U.S. 521 and Alice Drive about 1:15 a.m., Sept. 18. and a high-speed chase between Carter, a police The incident began shortly after 12:30 a.m. when officer and two sheriff’s deputies began. 911 dispatch received a call from the mother of The vehicle pursuit came to a halt on U.S. 521 Carter’s girlfriend saying he was fighting her near Furman Field Road in Rembert when Carter daughter at her daughter’s residence on Sarah SEE SEARCHING, PAGE A6 Glen Drive in Dalzell.
Flying high at Sumter fair
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Emergency personnel work outside the rail station Thursday after a train crash in Hoboken, N.J. A commuter train plowed into the bustling rail station during the morning rush hour.
Passenger train going to station crashes; 1 dead KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Members of the High Flying Pages soar through the air Wednesday night during their performance at Sumter County Fair.
Helicopter rides newest attraction for county fairgoers BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Something new at this year’s Sumter County Fair is helicopter rides. For $20 passengers get a 4-minute ride and for $40 an 8-minute ride. The helicopter has room for a pilot and three passengers. Passengers can be taken around the fairgrounds or over Swan LakeIris Gardens, said Warren Hart Mayer, one of two pilots flying in Sumter this week. Mayer, along with Patrick Schoolcroft, are the pilots offering rides. The duo works for Carolina Helicopter Tours, 345 Hicks Road in Coward, which flies helicopter tours from 3410 W. Radio Drive in Florence, as well as “mobile” tours at events such as the fair. The company has been in operation since 2010 and is owned by Danny Matthews, a veteran aircraft mechanic and pilot. Matthews said the company does quite of few of the mobile tours, mostly in North Carolina. Mayer said he learned to fly a helicopter by taking lessons. “It’s just something I always wanted to do,” he said. He said he is originally from
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
A look from above at Sumter County Fair’s midway from the Carolina Helicopter ride. Riders can take a 4-mile ride for $20 or an 8-mile trip for $40. Connecticut but was in the military and moved around a lot. Mayer said when he retired to the Myrtle Beach area, he didn’t think he would be flying much. “When you retire, you still need something to do,” he said. Schoolcroft said he learned to fly helicopters in Arizona. He said he flew helicopters in the New York area quite a bit.
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4 p.m. – GATES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 4 to10 p.m. – All exhibits on display All day – Petting Zoo & Racing Pigs 5:30 & 8 p.m. – Magic of Lance Gifford 6 & 8:45 p.m. – High Flying Pages (trapeze) 6:45 & 9:30 p.m. – On the Edge Midnight – Midway closes
SEE RIDES, PAGE A6
SEE TRAIN, PAGE A6
DEATHS, B6
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TODAY AT SUMTER COUNTY FAIR
HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — A rush-hour commuter train crashed through a barrier at the busy Hoboken station and lurched across the waiting area Thursday morning, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others in a tangle of broken concrete, twisted metal and dangling cables, authorities said. People pulled concrete off bleeding victims and passengers kicked out windows and crawled to safety amid crying and screaming after the arriving New Jersey Transit train ran off the end of its track. It apparently knocked out pillars as it ground to a halt in the covered waiting area, collapsing a section of the roof onto the first car. “All of a sudden, there was an abrupt stop and a big jolt that threw people out of their seats. The lights went out, and we heard a loud crashing noise — like an explosion — that turned out to be the roof of the terminal,” said Ross Bauer, who was sitting in the third or fourth car when the train was pulling into the historic 109-yearold station for its final stop. “I heard panicked screams, and everyone was stunned.” Gov. Chris Christie said a woman standing on the platform was killed by debris. A total of 108 others were injured, mostly on the train, Christie said; 74 were hospitalized. “The train came in at much too high rate of speed, and the question is: ‘Why is that?’” Christie said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said investigators will determine whether the explanation was an equipment failure, an incapacitated engineer, or something else. Christie said the engineer was in critical condition but cooperating with investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators. Among other things, they will want to know what the operator was doing before
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WEATHER, A10 Timothy Milliner Maurice L. Milliner Roosevelt H. Green Catherine W. Luckey Anthony Leonard
LOTS OF SUN Today there will be plenty of sunshine; tonight, partly cloudy, with a 15 percent chance of rain. HIGH 85, LOW 60
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