Horry County man sprays ‘substance’ on farm field, causes $81K damage, police says

A Green Sea man has been accused of causing $81,000 worth of damage to 18 acres of a farm field in Nichols.

Robert Bradley Stroud, 38, was charged by Horry County Police Friday with unlawful damage or destruction of a farm product, research facility or research equipment.

According to a police report, Stroud approached a property in the 7000 block of Highway 917, asking if he could help prepare the soil there, using a common practice called “discing,” which involves breaking up the soil surface with discs. The person at the property told Stroud no, resulting in a verbal argument between the two.

Stroud left and returned 30 minutes later on an ATV where he was seen in the field using a herbicide pump sprayer with an unknown substance in it on the tobacco plants, according to the report. Stroud drove through and sprayed 6 acres of a sprouted tobacco field and 12 acres of a prepped field, resulting in damage to the crops and field.

Horry County Police Department officers then went to the 8000 block of Reedy Branch Road where they arrested Stroud. Stroud told officers after that he had offered to “disc” the field but did not return to the property or spray any substance on the plants.