CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Former Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes and several other former and current members of the police department are now being sued individually, according to a recently filed lawsuit amendment.
An amended lawsuit was filed Tuesday and claims several people in the department knew about allegations against former senior detective Allen Large and failed to do anything about it.
The original lawsuit was filed in May by “Jane Doe-2” against Horry County, Horry County Police Department and Troy Allen Large. It claims the woman was raped in May of 2015, Large was assigned to her case, and then he tried to make her participate in nude “catfights” with other local women including other victims of violent crimes. The suit also states Large sexually assaulted Jane Doe-2 in an Horry County issued vehicle and made multiple sexual advances.WEB EXTRA: Read the complete lawsuit against HCPD, Saundra Rhodes and other department former/current employees
The amended lawsuit says former Chief of Police Saundra Rhodes was the commanding officer of Large and was responsible for his training, supervision, and conduct. It says Jane Doe-2 is suing Rhodes individually.
The suit also states Scott Rutherford, Thomas DelPercio, William Squires, and Dale Buchanan were all supervisors of Large and were also responsible for his training, supervision, and conduct. They are also all being sued individually.
This lawsuit comes after Chief Rhodes and Deputy Chief Rutherford announced their retirement from the department. Thomas DelPercio is still employed by the department and signed off on several of the cases investigated by Large.According to the county’s website, Dale Buchanan is a Captain in the department, and William Squires is now employed by the Horry County Sheriff’s Office.
The lawsuit also states leaders in the department were given video evidence of Large acting inappropriately.. Large says he turned himself in in that incident, was given a written reprimand, and referred to counseling.
News 13 spoke with Rhodes’ attorney about the allegations made in the sued, and he said they had not yet been served the lawsuit but that Rhodes initiated the investigation into the department and claims she’s done nothing wrong.
We also reached out to County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. When the original lawsuit was filed, he mad a statement about the recent lawsuits and sled investigations into the department, claiming he wanted to reassure the public they were committed to providing quality law enforcement to their citizens and visitors. At the time of this article, we had not heard back from him.
News13 also spoke with county spokesperson Lisa Bourcier. She said the county has no comment on pending litigation.
