Officers face criminal charges after 2 women drowned in van

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two South Carolina law officers are expected to be charged in the deaths of two women who drowned while locked in the back of a sheriff’s department van during Hurricane Florence.

Solicitor Ed Clements tells news outlets Stephen Flood will face two counts each of reckless homicide and involuntary manslaughter. Joshua Bishop will face two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Both men were expected to have bond hearings Friday.

The two were fired from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office in October. They were driving 45-year-old Wendy Newton and 43-year-old Nicolette Green to a mental-health facility under a court order Sept. 18 when their van was swept away by rising floodwaters.

Green and Newton drowned in the back of the van. Flood and Bishop have said they tried unsuccessfully to rescue them.