2 ex-deputies charged after patients drowned in sheriff’s van during Hurricane Florence

Two former sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina were charged today in the deaths of two mental health patients who became trapped in a van and drowned during Hurricane Florence.

The deputy who was driving the van, Stephen Flood, 66, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of involuntary manslaughter after authorities said he disregarded travel instructions and drove into floodwaters.

The officer who accompanied him, Joshua Bishop, 29, was accused of failing to prevent Flood from driving into the flood and was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Both men posted bond and were released today. If convicted, they could serve time in prison. The range of punishment for reckless homicide includes up to 10 years behind bars; for involuntary manslaughter, it is up to five years.

The deputies, from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office, had been told to safely transport the patients to a mental health center in September, as Hurricane Florence drenched the Carolinas. They were not being evacuated from the floodwaters, but being moved from hospitals for further treatment.

One of the patients, Nicolette Green, 43, had schizophrenia and had been committed on the recommendation of her counselor. The other, Wendy Newton, 45, had asked to be taken to a hospital because she thought she was about to have a “spell.” Both women sought out treatment, hoping to feel better, their families said.

Law enforcement officers were assigned to drive them to the mental health center, as is routine under state law. As water levels rose and roads shut down, Flood and Bishop “were provided a travel route that was believed to be safe,” a probable cause affidavit said.

But the deputies did not take the path recommended by their supervisors, according to the affidavit. Instead, authorities said, they took an alternate route, passing through a barricade and driving into floodwaters on Highway 76 in Marion County in northeastern South Carolina.

The van stalled out in the flooding, the affidavit said, and was swept into a guardrail.

One of the deputies, Bishop, managed to escape, but Newton and Green were trapped in a cage in the back of the van. Bishop tried and failed to rescue them multiple times, according to the affidavit.

He eventually managed to extract Flood, the driver, from the van, the affidavit said. But by the time emergency workers arrived by boat and found the deputies on the van’s roof, it was too dark to dive.

The van, with Green and Newton inside, remained in the floodwaters overnight. Their bodies were recovered the next day.

“Why would they chain her and another lady to the back of a truck?” Newton’s daughter, Allison, asked afterward. “Why didn’t they tell us she was being transported? Why were they going through floodwaters knowing how dangerous it’s been?”

Flood, who had been on the force for 10 years, and Bishop, who had been on the force for six years, were fired in October.

Allie Argoe, a lawyer for Flood, said in Marion County Magistrate Court today that “he never had any intention to ever hurt those women.” Bert von Herrmann, who represents Bishop, called the case a “tragic accident” but said his client was a passenger who did everything he could to try to save the patients.

Green’s daughter Rose, who is a senior in high school, told the court that her mother will not be here to help her shop for a prom dress or to attend her high school graduation.

Green’s family members said they were haunted by her final moments, trapped in a cage as the water flooded into the van. “Nothing can fix the pain I feel,” Rose said. “Every night is just a constant lack of sleep.”

“All I see is my mother,” she added, “and I hear her screams and her cries.”