MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Bond is denied for the Conway man accused of killing three people while driving drunk in Myrtle Beach earlier this month.
“I’d rather err ion the side of caution,” the judge said after agreeing with the prosecution that Garth Treadway, the man accused of killing the three people, is a flight risk because of previous arrests for running from police and prison escapes.
Myrtle Beach police responded to the fatal collision May 4 around 6:45 p.m. on Robert Grissom Parkway between Mr. Joe White Avenue and Highway 501. Three people were killed as a result of the crash.
Deputy Coroner Michelle McSpadden identified those killed as Nicolas Norris, Kristie Drewes and Gulnoza Tashmatova.
Norris died at the scene. He was 25-years-old from Myrtle Beach.
Drewes, 24, was originally from Connecticut but had been living in Conway for about five years. Drewes also died at the scene.
Tashmatova was 34-years-old and she was originally from Uzbekistan. She was taken to Grand Strand Medical Center where she died from her injuries.
Police arrested Garth Treadway, 52, of Conway. They announced charges, including three counts of felony DUI resulting in death, one count of felony DUI resulting in great bodily harm, hit and run attended vehicle, and transporting alcohol in a motor vehicle with the seal broken.
Before the crash, Treadway had just wrecked on Pine Island Road, police said, and was trying to get away. Police said alcohol and speed were contributing factors for the crash on Robert Grissom Parkway.
Treadway has a history of running from trouble. In 2002, he hid in Myrtle Beach after escaping a jail in Richmond, Texas. He got into a shootout with Myrtle Beach police after officers stopped him at a shopping center on 76th Avenue North. An officer shot him in the thigh.
Then-solicitor Greg Hembree said the officer’s shooting was not only justified but necessary to protect lives.
Within a few weeks, Treadway attempted to escape a jail in Horry County by using a paperclip to undo his handcuffs. That attempt failed.
Court records show dozens of other charges. Most of them are traffic related, including a speeding charged filed in March.
Treadway’s attorney argued that he was not a flight risk because his legs are severely injured from the crash he is accused of causing. The lawyer also argued that it’s unconfirmed if the liquor bottle found inside Treadway’s vehicle had been consumed that day. Blood work to prove Treadway’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crash is pending.
