01-03-2025
State lawmakers discussed new rules, penalties for police chases hours before Horry County pursuit death
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Just a few hours before Lane Stiff died in a Feb. 26 motorcycle wreck authorities said was the result of his failure to stop for law enforcement, state lawmakers were at work discussing potential new rules and penalties around the issue.
Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said the 18-year-old Myrtle Beach man died around 4:30 p.m. after striking a vehicle at the intersection of Highways 544 and 814.
Stiff failed to pull over for a South Carolina Highway Patrol unit that was attempting a traffic stop, Horry County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brennan Cavanaugh said.
The morning of Stiff's death, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee took up a measure that if signed into law would set mandatory minimum prison sentences for people convicted of running from police, and delayed action on another proposal that would create a statewide framework for when chases can happen at all.
Currently, failing to stop for blue lights is a misdemeanor with maximum punishments of a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail — essentially a slap on the wrist that incentivizes people to run from the law, Horry County police chief Kris Leonhardt said recently.
'Those violent offenders, they will take the opportunity to run versus being caught for whatever items they may have inside the vehicle,' he told a county council subcommittee last month.
State Sen. Rex Rice, R-Easley, has spent eight years trying to bulk up the penalties by making it a felony with maximum prison time of five years for a first offense along with a 30-day license suspension.
According to a fiscal impact summary attached to Rice's S. 111, there were 3,859 court dispositions in the 2023-24 fiscal year related to people who were charged with failure to stop.
'To me, it's something that needs to be done because right now, failure to stop is just a speeding ticket type of situation, and we've had a number of people killed in the state,' he said.
Stiff became the latest just about three hours after that Senate subcommittee adjourned — members sent Rice's bill up to the full committee.
Without a uniform pursuit policy in place, police and sheriff's departments around the region have all crafted their own — meaning rules of engagement can vary simply by crossing from one city into another.
In Myrtle Beach, for example, pursuing vehicles can't travel more than 20 mph over posted speed limits, and officers must notify dispatchers and field supervisors of their location and reason, and then receive verbal permission to continue, according to the city's pursuit policy.
Horry County Police Department's manual says decisions to chase suspect vehicles should factor in weather and road conditions, the officer's driving ability and cruiser's condition.
State Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Columbia Democrat, wants a statewide pursuit policy put in place by requiring its law enforcement training agency to establish clear guidelines — something opposed by a major advocacy group.
'This bill will have devastating consequences for public safety by severely restricting law enforcement officers' ability to engage in vehicular pursuits. The result will be emboldened criminals who know they can flee without consequence, leading to increased lawlessness across our communities,' South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police president John Blackmon wrote in a Feb. 22 letter to lawmakers.
The Senate Judiciary subcommittee delayed action on Jackson's proposal Feb. 26.
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