SC 24 accident turns fatal

A 70-year old man died yesterday after a traffic accident on highway 24 in rural Oconee. Coroner Karl Addis said the victim was Johnny C. Patterson of Douglas Drive, Seneca. Patterson died at 12:48 yesterday afternoon in the emergency room at the Oconee Memorial Hospital. State trooper David Jones said that at 11 o’clock yesterday morning Patterson’s Dodge Ram truck was headed west on South Carolina 24 when it went off the  two-lane highway at Wade Hampton Lane. The driver attempted to over-correct, but his truck wound up off the right side of the road in a ditch. The coroner says an autopsy will assist with the investigation.