A South Carolina beach cop accused of hitting and killing a woman while she was sunbathing has been allowed to retire.
Former beach safety director First Corporal Julian “Duke” Brown resigned from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office on July 26.
This came just weeks after he struck and killed 66-year-old nurse Sandra Schultz-Peters on crowded Nash Beach.
A resolution has been introduced before the Horry County Public Safety Committee to declare Brown’s gun surplus property and make it available to him after his retirement. Women’s World Baseball Championship reports.
Brown was placed on administrative leave following the tragic incident in June. He joined the force in 1988 and had been responsible for beach safety throughout his career.
South Carolina Beach Police Corporal Julian “Duke” Brown, accused of running over and killing a woman while she was sunbathing, has been allowed to retire
But a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the victim’s family claims the driver failed to check for people or objects in the road before driving into the sand.
Documents state he also ran over another person’s belongings on the beach before hitting Schultz-Peters.
Schultz-Peters was lying in the sand when she was hit and was trapped under the vehicle for several minutes.
Photographs posted online show dozens of people gathered around the Horry County Sheriff’s Department vehicle in the sand after the crash.
Dennis Miller said he was among those who tried to free Schultz-Peters from under the truck.
Nurse Sandra Schultz-Peters, 66, was fatally struck by a Horry County sheriff’s vehicle in Nash Beach, South Carolina, in June.
Nash Beach was packed at the time, and horrified witnesses recalled hearing a scream at the point of impact before several people ran to help.
“She was trapped underneath the vehicle, so a group of men came over and did everything they could to lift the car up and get her off of it,” he told WMBF.
Bystander Amanda Bilodeau described what happened: “I didn’t hear or see anything until I heard her scream, and it was a really loud scream, something you can’t hear in movies or anything,” she told WMBF News.
“It was like pure fear or pain or both. Immediately, I and probably everyone else on the beach turned around and ran away.”
Schultz-Peters was rushed to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where she later died.
She, David Schultz, said she was well known on the beach because she walked long distances with her dogs every day, sometimes up to 10 miles.
“That morning that she passed away, I was with her three times,” he told WNBF.
Brown first joined the force in 1988 and had been the beach security leader for his entire career.
Schultz-Peters’ brother, David Schultz, said she was well known on the beach because she walked long distances with her dogs every day, sometimes up to 10 miles.
“We miss her so much. I think God put her on this earth for a reason and someone took her away. I’ll get to that later.”
‘Sandy was probably the best person I ever had in my life.’
“It’s killing me, it hurts so much, it’s so bad,” he added. “I’m just trying to keep everything under control, but I’m the one who’s losing control the most.”