HCPD officers were upset over public outrage after beachgoer run over, suit says
The brother of a Myrtle Beach woman who was killed after being run over by a Horry County patrol vehicle while sitting on the beach has filed a federal lawsuit against the officer.
Sandra “Sandy” Schultz Peters, 66, died after she was run over June 13, 2024, by a police vehicle being driven by Julian “Duke” Brown, beach safety director for Horry County Police, near the Nash Street Beach access outside Myrtle Beach. She was sitting on the beach reading before she was hit, according to witnesses.
Anthony Schultz has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Brown, as well as the Horry County government, Horry County Police Department and Brown’s supervisors, Gregory Hutchins and William Muldoon. This is the second lawsuit Schultz has filed against the Horry County Police department in his sister’s death.
Schultz claims that his sister’s death could have been prevented and that supervisors were aware of previous incidents with beachgoers and patrol vehicles, and after Schultz Peters’ death, HCPD officers engaged in a group text where they stated they would “weather the storm” and “have (Officer Brown’s) back 100%,” the suit states. They also were critical of the public outrage over the death, calling people “***holes” and “KARMA is a b****,” the suit said.
Horry County spokesperson Thomas Bell said by text that the county doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The first lawsuit was filed on June 28, 2024, in Horry County, about two weeks after Schultz Peters was killed. That suit went to mediation in October, but a court filing in the case on Nov. 4 said that the mediation was at an impasse.
Schultz then filed the federal lawsuit on Nov. 17 and is seeking monetary damages for the violation of his sister’s constitutional rights when she was “ran over and crushed” with a department issued Ford Ranger while she was sitting on a public beach.
The suit claims that Horry County and its police department, who implemented policies, such as permitting certain vehicles on the beach, “allowed dangerous and unconstitutional conduct to continue unchecked.”
The suit claims that the HCPD’s designee “testified” that the department “does not understand why Horry County Government passed that law (to allow vehicles on the beach) or the intent behind it.” It went on to say that the designee, which wasn’t identified, testified that operating a large motor vehicle in areas where people are sitting, like a beach, is “inherently dangerous.”
The HCPD has had a “pattern” of incidents involving police vehicles on public beaches, the lawsuit states.
On May 24, 2020, HCPD Beach Patrol Officer Scott Sullivan ran over a civilian who was seated on the beach, causing significant injuries. In addition, on Sept. 30, 2023, Officer Brown, while patrolling the beach in his capacity as HCPD Beach Patrol beach safety director, ran over another beachgoer’s chair, the suit states.
Brown has testified that he did not see the person’s chair before running it over. Despite this clear warning of impaired visibility or unsafe operation, he continued his patrol without altering his behavior, the suit claims.
Brown violated the same “best practices” that he taught other officers, including staying in the designated driving lane when possible, parking parallel to the water line and conducting a 360-degree walkaround of a parked truck before moving it, the suit said.
Officer William Conklin responded to the September 2023 incident and told the victim, “Maybe this would help keep him in the office,” indicating HCPD’s knowledge of Officer Brown’s unfitness to operate a motor vehicle on the beach, the suit states. Muldoon intentionally declined to initiate a mandatory investigation of the incident, the suit aded.
On June 13, 2024, while Schultz Peters was enjoying a day at the beach near the Springmaid Pier in Myrtle Beach, Brown wasn’t responding to an emergency, but checking surf conditions. Rather than parking his vehicle and walking onto the beach, Brown chose to drive his vehicle onto the beach and through the designated lane of travel for vehicle traffic, entering the area where the public occupied.
He did a “blind” U-turn to exit the beach and ran over Schultz Peters with his vehicle, pinning her under the passenger-side tire of the truck. Schultz Peters remained trapped until beachgoers lifted the vehicle off her 95-pound body, the suit states.
She died later that day at a hospital.
Brown was placed on administrative leave after the incident and then retired in July 2024.
The suit contends that Schultz Peters’ death was preventable. HCPD failed to properly discipline, retrain or supervise its offers after these incidents, and the department did not implement mandatory or adequate written protocols or safety policies for operating patrol vehicles on public beaches.
The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial in the case.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
