New details have been revealed about the Horry County Sheriff’s Office van that drove through floodwaters in September, which led to the deaths of two mental health patients.
Wendy Newton and Nicolette Green drowned in the back of the van as floodwaters rose along Highway 76 in Marion County.
News13 has obtained disciplinary reports for now-fired officers Stephen Flood and Joshua Bishop.
Flood’s report says he was the driver and that he “made a conscious decision to drive a transport van around a barricade and into flood waters (a substantial risk) that resulted in the death of patients after being provided a safe route by supervisors to avoid floodwaters.”
In the response section of his form, Flood stated “the facts in this report are not true.”
Bishop’s report suggests he “failed to make a conscious and conspicuous effort to stop Officer Stephen Flood from driving into floodwater” after “being provided an alternate safe route by supervisors.”
In the response section of his form, Bishop marked through it and didn’t comment.
In a 2013-14 performance review, Bishop received a three out of five on most areas, which means “meets expectations,” and was called “organized” and “professional” by the person reviewing him.
In Flood’s 2013-14 performance review, it was noted that he did “an exceptional job with any task he is given” and that he “can handle stressful situations better than most officers.”
The employments of Corrections Officers Stephen Flood and Joshua Bishop were terminated on Oct. 24, according to a press release from the HCSO. This came “as the result of an ongoing internal administrative investigation into the incident where two female occupants died when a detention center transport van was overtaken by floodwaters.”
