Trial begins for South Carolina deputy after women drown in police van amid Hurricane Florence flooding
The trial of a South Carolina deputy accused of driving a pair of mental health patients through dangerous Hurricane Florence floodwaters has kicked off nearly three years after the women drowned inside the transport van.
Former Horry County corrections officer Stephen Flood was one of two deputies inside the vehicle when the deadly incident unfolded in 2018. He was transporting 45-year-old Wendy Newton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green with the help of corrections officer Joshua Bishop when their van became inundated with flood waters brought on by Hurricane Florence.
While the officers were able to escape, their efforts to free the women from the backseat were unsuccessful. Both Newton and Green had been involuntarily committed by a physician in the days before they died in the police van.
During opening statements at the Marion County courthouse on Monday, Solicitor Ed Clements alleged there were several instances during which Flood could have prevented the deaths of Newton and Green. He’s currently on trial for two counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide in connection with the drownings.
Flood first failed the patients when he ignored warnings from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office to avoid the quickest route to the mental health facility, which was along a highway already slammed by Hurricane Florence’s rainfall, according to Clements.
The officer then proceeded to drive around barricades closing state Highway 9 near Nichols and ignored National Guard troops who similarly warned the commute was too dangerous to continue.
Defense attorney Jarrett Bouchette alternatively painted the incident as a tragedy for which the blame should be shared. He pointed the finger at the county for putting the inmates in a van with only one way out, Flood’s supervisors for encouraging officers to always utilize the most direct route, as well as the troops who allowed Flood to pass the barricades.
“The state is hoping they can make Steve Flood the scapegoat for this terrible, tragic accident, but that’s all it was — an accident,” Bouchette said.
According to investigators, the transport van struck an object submerged beneath the flood waters and then flipped onto its side, blocking the door the women used to get into the cage. Even though the water was just inches deep when the accident occurred, the nearby Little Pee Dee River rose quickly.
Bouchette noted that officers tried to shoot off the door’s locks and that Flood stayed with the van when their efforts failed — despite not knowing how to swim.
By the time the officers were rescued an hour later, the vehicle was almost entirely underwater, officials said.
Flood is facing up to five years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter and 10 years in prison for each reckless homicide charges.
Bishop meanwhile is slated to stand trial for two counts of involuntary manslaughter at a later date.
With News Wire Services
