A pedestrian died Thursday evening after being struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of the Belk department store on Fairview Road in Simpsonville, and the driver did not stop. Police say the collision happened around 5:35 p.m., and the victim was rushed to a hospital but did not survive. The driver remains unidentified, and investigators are asking anyone with information to come forward.
According to WYFF, the Simpsonville Police Department reported that officers responded to a fatal hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian Thursday evening, with the collision happening in the Belk parking lot at 665 Fairview Road. As reported by Fox Carolina, the pedestrian was taken to Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital, where they died at 6:27 p.m., according to the Greenville County Coroner's Office.
The victim has not yet been identified, and WYFF reported that an autopsy was scheduled for Friday. No description of the vehicle or driver has been released, and it remains unclear whether investigators have identified a suspect.
Police Seeking Tips From Anyone With Information
Simpsonville investigators are asking the public for help piecing together what happened in the moments before and after the crash. Per WSPA, anyone with information is asked to call police at (864) 967-9536 or email Lt. Menzies at [email protected]. The Belk store sits in a busy shopping corridor along Fairview Road, and investigators have not said whether any surveillance footage or witnesses have come forward since the crash.
The case echoes another unresolved hit-and-run earlier this month in Anderson County, where troopers are still searching for the driver of a gray or silver 2019-to-2020 Hyundai Santa Fe believed to be involved in the death of 62-year-old Robert Anthony Tucker. Fox Carolina reported that Tucker was struck while crossing McDuffie Street after an Anderson County 911 call came in just after 9:45 p.m., and that the vehicle that hit him did not stop. The coroner there ruled Tucker's death accidental, caused by multiple traumatic injuries, though no such findings have been released in the Simpsonville case.
A Statewide Pattern of Pedestrian Deaths
The Simpsonville crash adds to a grim tally across South Carolina, which Smart Growth America's 2026 Dangerous by Design report ranked fourth among the deadliest states in the country for pedestrians, according to the Post and Courier. The same report found that nearly 900 pedestrians died statewide between 2020 and 2024, more than in the previous four-year span combined.
South Carolina's own transportation agency has flagged the problem for years. The state recorded 187 pedestrian deaths in 2020 alone, accounting for nearly 18% of all traffic fatalities that year, and ranked second nationally for pedestrian deaths per capita, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The agency published the state's first Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan in 2022 in response to the rising toll.
Other Upstate and Lowcountry communities have faced similar tragedies in recent months. The Post and Courier noted that the March 2026 death of 78-year-old Annelise Simmons, struck in a Charleston crosswalk, spurred concern and calls for action, while the Charleston-North Charleston and Columbia metro areas ranked among the nation's deadliest for pedestrians. No arrests or vehicle details have been announced in the Simpsonville case, and police have not said when they expect to release the victim's identity.
