South Carolina waitress who was known to several politicians in Columbia remains in critical condition following a Wednesday morning crash with an SUV driven by the city’s newly elected mayor.
The State, Columbia’s major newspaper reported that Deborah Rubens was on a ventilator but had responded to family members. She has a broken pelvis and a brain injury, a person close to the family said.
Benjamin was on his way to an early morning television interview just before 6 a.m. Wednesday when the accident happened.
The mayor-elect released a prepared statement, but has not commented publicly on the wreck which remains under investigation by the South Carolina State Police.
“I do not think it would be responsible for me to comment at this time,” Benjamin told BlackAmericaweb.com Thursday. “We continue to pray for Ms. Ruben and her family.
Columbia police asked the state police to participate in the investigation to avoid the appearance of special treatment for the mayor-elect.
“The investigation will bear out the facts of the case,” Benjamin said.
In a prepared statement, Benjamin said: “As to the accident, the city police are conducting a complete investigation. Because of my position as Mayor-Elect, I requested that the city ask another law enforcement agency to participate in the investigation to avoid the appearance of favoritism. It would be inappropriate for me to comment before they have finished their work.”
The Columbia Police Department has not said who was at fault in the accident, but the state Highway Patrol said it independently verified that there “was no impairment on Benjamin’s part” at the time of the wreck, according to The State.
At the time of the accident Rubens was on her way to work at the Clarion Hotel on Gervais Street where her customers in the restaurant often included lawmakers and outgoing Mayor Bob Coble, who decided not to seek reelection after 20 years in office.
Benjamin, a lawyer and lobbyist, defeated former Columbia City Councilman Kirkman Finlay III in Tuesday’s runoff election, getting about 55 percent of the vote to Finlay’s 45 percent. He is Columbia’s first black mayor.
BlackAmericaweb.com writer Denise Stewart contributed to this report.
