Surviving driver charged with felony DUI

Stephen Corley of Salley has been arrested and charged with felony DUI in the Dec. 29 collision that killed two people.

A Salley man has been charged with two counts of felony DUI on allegations he was legally intoxicated when he attempted to pass another vehicle on a two-lane stretch of highway and caused a head-on collision that killed the occupants of an oncoming SUV.

Stephen Corley, 38, of Jewelweed Road in Salley, was arrested Friday afternoon. State troopers said the suspect will be held at the Aiken County detention center. A bond hearing is slated for the weekend, said Lance Cpl. Judd Jones, spokesman for the S.C. Highway Patrol.

The charges indicate that Corley was over the .08 blood alcohol limit when the crash occurred on Dec. 29; however, troopers did not release what his levels were. He was hospitalized at MCG Health in Augusta after the crash, and his blood was taken at that time.

Corley was arrested upon his release from the Georgia medical center where he was taken by ambulance the evening of the fatal collision.

Katie Scott, 22, of Couchton, was also transported to the Georgia hospital that evening. She died Dec. 30 from injuries she sustained in the crash. Alex Bush, 24, of Aiken, the driver of the vehicle that Corley hit, was pronounced dead the evening of the collision.

Bush and Scott were traveling east on S.C. 302 in a 2001 Ford Explorer when the SUV was struck head-on by a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder, driven by Corley, officials said.

Witnesses told Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton the Nissan had been traveling erratically, at speeds in excess of 80 mph, only moments before the fatal crash.

If convicted, Corley faces a mandatory fine of $10,000 to $25,000 and imprisonment for one to 25 years.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.