The Horry County Sheriff’s Office has asked a lawsuit filed by the family of one of the women killed in a transport van during Hurricane Florence be dismissed.
The family of Nicolette Green claims the van was changed to include a caged compartment, with only one exit door in case of an emergency. The lawsuit claims green would not have drowned if there was a second way to escape.
The county’s document for dismissal states the defendant did change the van to include the caged “module” but there is insufficient information in which to admit or deny the remaining allegation.
The lawsuit also claims that Sheriff Thompson and HCSO Transportation Supervisor Elizabeth Orlando knew that the modifications “prevented access to a second exit, left custodial passengers with only one path of escape, and posed a pervasive and unreasonable risk of harm to every custodial passenger.”
Two Horry County Sheriff’s deputies were charged in the case after the van was swept away by floodwaters. Nicolette Green and Wendy Newton drowned.
The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages for French’s death and is demanding a jury trial.
