The death of a South Carolina man who died after jumping into Lake Hartwell Monday night following a chase with Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deputies has been ruled accidental.
Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said 31-year-old Akeem O. Lukie of Greenwood, S.C., has been identified as the man whose body was pulled from 26 feet of water in the Tugaloo River Basin at Fair Play near the Georgia/South Carolina line a Dan autopsy showed he drowned.
Addis said about 10 Monday night, Franklin County deputies attempted to stop a 2014 Dodge Charger on I-85 northbound near Mile Marker 169. The car was traveling at roughly 125 mph and struck a second vehicle on the bridge before striking the guardrail.
The driver, now identified as Lukie, got out of the car and was seen jumping from the bridge into the lake on the South Carolina side.
Franklin County deputies saw him trying to swim and called to him and tried to throw a rope to him, but he went under the water, Addis said.
Lukie’s body was recovered about 2 a.m. Tuesday.
An autopsy was conducted Wednesday but so far, those results have not been released.
