Mugshot of Colton Haire (mugshot from York County Detention Center)

A Fort Mill drunk driver was found hiding in a friend’s closet last week following a hit & run wreck along Coltharp Road off the interstate, authorities said.

   The suspect, 22-year-old Colton Haire, confessed to drinking “approximately one case of beer” on Tuesday evening before getting behind the wheel of a friend’s car, according to a sheriff’s report. He had two passengers in the white Kia Optima and more beer when he rear-ended another man’s car on Coltharp Road and Brownwich Road.

Officers responded to the hit & run and found the wrecked Kia Optima near a trailer park. They also found two shirtless passengers walking with beer. Hair was located inside a residence at 2170 Coltharp Road, not far from his own home at 2160 Coltharp Road.

Mugshot of Mandi Jessee

The Kia, which belonged to another woman, had significant front-end damage with both air bags deployed and a broken and bulged windshield on the passenger side. It appeared “as if a human head had struck it from the inside,” a report says.

 Haire went to jail for DUI and an uninsured vehicle with other charges pending. A woman claiming to be owner of the Kia, Mandi Jessee, appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic and was arrested on a family court bench warrant.

Mugshot of James Twedt.

Passenger James Twedt was also arrested on an active warrant for failure to appear.

The driver of the other vehicle appeared fine, but his vehicle suffered rear-end damage, the sheriff’s report says. 

Greg "Ricky Bobby" Rickabaugh has lived in the Fort Mill and York County community since 2006. He has covered the area while a reporter for The Charlotte Observer and a freelance writer for The Fort Mill...