By Terri Richardson
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A Spartanburg man hit by a vehicle while walking from a Horry County jail is blaming the county and the arresting police agency for his injuries, claiming they failed to offer transportation back to where he was arrested.
Brian Oliver was arrested by Surfside Beach Police on Nov. 4, 2024, and transported to J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway, which is operated by the Horry County Sheriff’s Department. The detention center is about 25 miles away from Surfside Beach, which doesn’t have its own jail, according to a lawsuit filed July 17, 2026.
Oliver was charged with possession of drugs, which was later dismissed.
After Oliver posted bond and was released, Surfside Beach Police did not return him to the location where he was arrested, the lawsuit claims.
Oliver was forced to walk the 25 miles back to Surfside Beach, the suit said. While walking, he was hit by a vehicle and transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for 15 days, the suit said. He received extensive injuries, including a pelvic fracture, sepsis and brain bleeding.
Oliver is suing Horry County, the Sheriff’s Office, the Town of Surfside Beach, South Carolina Department of Transportation and Jarvis Wilson, the person who allegedly hit Oliver along the highway.
The Horry County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the suit. A message left for the Town of Surfside Beach was not returned by publication. Horry Co. Sheriff’s Office does not provide transportation
Horry County Sheriff’s Office does not provide transportation for inmates after their release, according to its policy on its website. Inmates are responsible for their own transportation. The public transit bus makes scheduled stops at the detention center and indigent inmates needing transportation from Conway can request a bus pass for free from the administrative staff, the website says.
There is also a free phone in the lobby that inmates can use to contact someone or a taxi, according to an email from Horry County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Brennan Cavanagh.
According to the lawsuit, Oliver did not have a phone, money or any way to secure transportation back to Surfside Beach. Detention center employees did not offer Oliver any assistance, including providing him with transportation or a telephone to call for a ride, the suit claims.
The suit claims the jail staff breached Horry County and the Sheriff’s Office’s duty to ensure Oliver had “reasonable means to return to his pre-arrest location.”
Surfside Beach regularly transports people “dozens of miles away without ensuring a way for those people to return,” the lawsuit said.
Oliver had to walk back to Surfside Beach along U.S. 17 at night, the suit said. The defendants knew that U.S. 17, which doesn’t have sidewalks and frequently has vehicle crashes, was the only way back to where Oliver needed to go and disregarded “the danger that it posed to the plaintiff,” the lawsuit said.
Oliver is claiming that Horry County and Sheriff’s Office staff were negligent in their duties to provide transportation, adding that if he was given access to a telephone, Oliver “would not have had to walk along SC Hwy 17 and would not have been struck by Wilson’s vehicle.”
The lawsuit is asking for a jury trial and is seeking actual and punitive damages.
—
© 2026 The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.). Visit www.thesunnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.