Robert Smith Sues Adrian Rhiner, B & D Clearing Over Bamberg Crash

Plaintiff Robert Smith filed a civil complaint in Bamberg County Circuit Court, listing the case as 2026CP0500039 and alleging motor vehicle negligence and personal injury, with the filing recorded March 2, 2026. The court docket metadata identifies Adrian Rhiner as a defendant and, in a public summary, lists B & D Clearing, Inc. as an additional defendant.

The docket entry records plaintiff counsel as Edgar Mason West and classifies the case under the state code "common pleas - motor veh accid 320," with the claims noted as Motor Vehicle Negligence and Personal Injury Claims. Those structured entries supply the parties, case number and the basic legal theory of negligence, but the public summary does not include the complaint text or exhibits that describe the underlying crash.

Key factual elements are not yet available in the public docket metadata: the complaint has not been posted in the accessible summary, and there is no information showing the crash date, collision location, the nature or extent of injuries, medical treatment, or the dollar amount of damages sought. The docket summary likewise does not list defense counsel, insurance carriers, or any scheduled hearings in the public view.

The appearance of B & D Clearing, Inc. in the public summary raises a potential employment or vicarious-liability angle, since corporate defendants in motor-vehicle suits are commonly alleged to be vehicle owners or employers. The complaint itself, which the Bamberg County Circuit Court file should contain, will be necessary to confirm whether the suit asserts that Rhiner was acting within the scope of employment for B & D Clearing, Inc., or whether the company is named for another reason.

Separately, an unrelated federal case filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Orangeburg Division, involves Bamberg County and different parties. That federal complaint, captioned with plaintiff Edwin Thibodeau as personal representative of the estate of Alan R. Thibodeau, names Bamberg County and multiple individual correctional officers among its defendants and attaches medical expert materials by Edward C. O’Bryan, MD as Exhibit 1 and a Rule 26 report as Exhibit 2. The Thibodeau matter concerns different factual allegations and should not be conflated with Smith v. Rhiner.

For now, the actionable public record points to the March 2, 2026 filing of 2026CP0500039, the listing of Adrian Rhiner and B & D Clearing, Inc. as defendants, and representation by Edgar Mason West. The full complaint, summons and any proof of service filed in the Bamberg County Circuit Court will be required to detail the crash location, timeline, injuries sustained by Robert Smith, and the legal theory against each named defendant.