Coroner Identifies Liberty Man Killed Saturday

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore has released the name of the Liberty man killed in a two-vehicle collision Saturday afternoon

Peter Kuzbyt, 56, of 1426 Melton Road, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which occurred on at 5:30 pm on Slab Bridge Road, five miles north of Anderson, according to Trooper Billy Elder with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred as Kuzbyt was traveling south on Slab Bridge Road in an DirecTV van, Elder said.

A 1994 Chevy truck driven by James Johnson, 45, also of Liberty, struck Kuzbyt's car head on, Elder said.

Kuzbyt was wearing a seat belt and was entrapped in the vehicle.

“There was a post-crash fire that engulfed the vehicle and the victim,” Shore said.

Shore said Kuzbyt had already died of blunt force trauma to the chest by the time the fire started.

Johnson was wearing a selt belt, Elder said. He was burned in the crash and transported by air to Greenville Memorial Hospital for treatment.

“His injuries were pretty serious,” Shore said.

The fire made identifying the deceased difficult.

“We did have a little bit of trouble figuring out who may have been in the DirecTV van,” Shore said.

Shore said he went to DirecTV's Piedmont location, where a motorcycle registered to Kuzbyt was the only vehicle still in the parking lot.

“We ran the tags, then went to his home,” Shore said.

Kuzbyt's family told investigators they had been unable to get in touch with him.

“We tentatively identified him until we got the dental records, then used the dental records to make a match,” Shore said.

The Highway Patrol is still investigating the accident with the Mulch-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team.