SLED investigating how man died in North Myrtle Beach police custody
The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is investigating after a man was found dead at the North Myrtle Beach jail while in police custody.
On Friday around 8 p.m., North Myrtle Beach Police responded to 732 Main St. in response to a call about a disorderly 44-year-old man. The man was homeless, according to a statement distributed by police and city spokesman Pat Dowling. The statement said he was very intoxicated, but did not say what he did that was disorderly.
Paramedics talked with the man and offered to take him to be checked out at a hospital but the man said he did not want to go, Dowling said. Police then arrested the man, charged him with public disorderly conduct and transported him to the jail.
At around 10:42 am on April 17, jail personnel went to wake the man up for his bond hearing and found him to be unresponsive, Dowling said. Fire/Rescue and Horry County EMS arrived, and both agencies confirmed his death. SLED was contacted and asked to send a crime scene unit to the jail, and SLED did so.
No information about a possible cause of death is provided in the statement.
This story was originally published April 18, 2021 at 1:18 PM.
