Guilty verdict in a Pickens County traffic death case

A jury returned a guilty verdict Thursday in a Pickens County case of a hit-run accident in which a 24-year old man lost his life. Judge Eddie Welmaker followed the verdict by handing out a 20-year sentence to Rufus Raiden III. Raiden is 41 years old. The case involved a two-vehicle accident in 2011 on highway 8 in which, according to the evidence, the pickup that Raiden drove crossed the center line and hit a car driven by Crane. Crane’s death resulted from blunt force trauma. According to an announcement by the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Raiden gave no aid to the trauma victim and was arrested about 24 hours later at a Columbia bus station attempting to flee to California.