Driver Dies After Horry County Police Chase on Cates Bay Highway

Posted Monday, November 2, 2026 5:27 pm

David Hucks (via MyrtleBeachSC)

Nov 2, 2026 · @ https://x.com/myrtlebeachnews

A pursuit near Conway early Sunday ended in a fatal single-car crash during an Horry County Police Chase. By our count, it is at least the fifth time this year that someone has died after running from police in Horry County, and residents still know little about how most of these chases started.

A driver was killed early Sunday, Nov. 1, after the car they were driving left Cates Bay Highway near Conway while fleeing from an Horry County Police Chase, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. The driver was alone in the car. As of Monday afternoon, the Horry County Coroner’s Office had not released the driver’s name.

People flee from police in Horry County almost every week. What makes this crash worth a closer look is that it isn’t the only one. Several fatal chases this year, including an Horry County Police Chase, have followed the same pattern: they happened in the middle of the night, involved a single vehicle, and left basic questions unanswered. Those questions matter to anyone who drives Highway 501, Highway 22 or the county’s back roads after dark.

Understanding the Impact of the Horry County Police Chase

What happened on Cates Bay Highway

The Highway Patrol says the crash happened at about 1:59 a.m. near Johnson Street. A 2018 Kia Optima was heading south on Cates Bay Highway when it ran off the road. It went through a ditch, struck a brick sign and several trees, and then hit a fence. Troopers described the driver as trying to elude law enforcement, and the crash remains under investigation.

The Horry County Police Department was the agency involved. An HCPD incident report obtained by The Sun News shows one county officer responding to the pursuit on 9th Avenue in the Conway area. According to the report, officers recovered narcotics from the car after the crash [The Sun News, 2026]. Neither the report nor any public statement so far explains the main question: why the officer tried to stop the car in the first place. The Sun News said it was unclear how the chase began [The Sun News, 2026].

That gap is important. A chase that starts over a violent felony is a very different thing from a chase over a traffic violation, a tag light or a hunch. Until HCPD says what prompted the stop, how fast the pursuit went and how long it lasted, the public can’t judge whether the risk was worth taking.

The Cates Bay crash has to be seen in the context of earlier deaths this year.

A pattern, not an isolated crash

The Sun News counted Sunday’s death as the fourth time in 2026 that someone in Horry County died while evading law enforcement. Its count included two motorcyclists killed in separate spring chases, one in the Myrtle Beach area and one near Longs, and a motorcyclist who died near Conway in June [The Sun News, 2026].

The Longs-area case has been reported in detail. On March 26, an HCPD officer tried to pull over 27-year-old Walfre “Alex” Roblero Prince on S.C. 22 near Longs shortly before 2 p.m. Prince crashed his motorcycle into a tree and later died at Grand Strand Medical Center [Post and Courier, 2026]. Days later, his mother told WMBF that she had many unanswered questions and that no one from the county police department had contacted her [WMBF News, 2026].

The June death also followed a late-night attempt at a traffic stop. Around 2:10 a.m. on June 7, a state trooper saw 34-year-old Jimmy Gagum speeding on Highway 501 North and tried to stop him. Gagum fled toward downtown Conway, turned onto Highway 548 and crashed into a ditch. He died at the scene, and the Horry County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation [WMBF News, 2026; WBTW, 2026]. The Sun News described this case as a flight from sheriff’s deputies, but other local reports say a Highway Patrol trooper started the stop. That discrepancy shows how scattered the public record on these chases is.

The Sun News count also appears to leave out a September crash. Surfside Beach officers tried to stop a 2004 Jaguar for speeding and reckless driving on Highway 17 around 2:46 a.m. on Sept. 1. The chase went through Garden City and ended when the car flipped near the Highway 17 Bypass overpass. The driver, 47-year-old Jerry Lynch Jr. of Charlotte, died. A 19-year-old woman and three children, ages 8, 9 and 10, were taken to the hospital. Town officials said alcohol or drugs may have played a role [WMBF News, 2026].

If that crash is counted, Horry County has had at least five chase-related deaths in 2026. Four police agencies were involved across those cases: HCPD, the Sheriff’s Office, the Highway Patrol and Surfside Beach police. No single local office tracks or publicly reports all of them together. The working tally exists because reporters pieced it together crash by crash.

Those numbers lead to a policy question: who sets the rules for when a chase is worth the risk?

Who decides when to chase, and who reviews it

Horry County police do have a written pursuit policy. A public-records requester obtained a copy from the department in 2023 through South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act [MuckRock, 2023]. The county has not explained publicly how that policy was applied in any of this year’s fatal chases. That includes whether a supervisor approved them, at what speed an officer must stop chasing, and whether a fleeing driver’s identity or offense was considered.

The policy has been challenged in court. In a lawsuit filed in late 2025, two Marion County residents allege that an HCPD officer chased a stolen Jeep in October 2024, after license plate reader cameras flagged it. According to the suit, the chase lasted about 12 minutes and covered roughly 10 miles across two counties, over a suspected property crime. At 109 mph, the Jeep crossed into oncoming traffic and hit their car. The suit claims the officer didn’t follow department rules on starting, continuing and ending pursuits, and it also names a supervisor who was monitoring the chase. HCPD said it does not comment on pending litigation [WMBF News, 2025].

That case is a reminder that the risk doesn’t fall only on the person who runs. In the Surfside Beach crash, four passengers, three of them children, ended up in the hospital. In the 2024 case, the people hurt were simply driving down U.S. 701.

Investigations into these deaths are also split among agencies. When an HCPD pursuit ends in a fatality, the Highway Patrol usually leads the investigation [North Myrtle Beach Times, 2026]. When a trooper’s chase ends in a death, the Sheriff’s Office has stepped in [WBTW, 2026]. That arrangement provides some outside review. It also means findings go to different agencies on different timelines, and families may never get a single, clear account.

Wider research helps show whether Horry County’s experience is unusual.

What the national numbers say about the risk

Our local pattern is consistent with what national researchers are finding. A University of Virginia study published this year in JAMA Network Open reviewed federal crash data from 2009 through 2023. It found 5,425 fatal crashes connected to police pursuits, which killed 6,352 people, an average of about 423 deaths a year. Deaths increased about 2% a year even after adjusting for population and overall crash trends [JAMA Network Open, 2026]. The researchers also found higher fatality rates for pursuits at night [JAMA Network Open, 2026]. Every 2026 Horry County death described above except the March crash happened between about 2 and 3 a.m.

The study’s authors argue for restricting chases based on risk, requiring national pursuit reporting and investing in alternatives to chasing [JAMA Network Open, 2026]. In an accompanying commentary, the journal noted that roughly 30% of pursuit-related deaths are innocent bystanders [JAMA Network Open, 2026].

A San Francisco Chronicle investigation found at least 3,336 pursuit deaths nationwide from 2017 through 2022. It reported that no binding national standard governs when police may chase, and that taxpayers have paid at least $82 million in settlements and judgments in pursuit cases. The Chronicle also stated plainly that all of these deaths could have been avoided if the drivers had pulled over [San Francisco Chronicle via Pulitzer Prizes, 2024].

Both points are true. Fleeing police is a crime and a choice. The decision to chase is a choice too, and it belongs to a public agency that answers to the people of Horry County.

What’s Next

The Highway Patrol’s investigation of the Cates Bay crash is still open, and the coroner’s office is expected to release the driver’s name after notifying the family. Myrtle Beach News will report the identity when officials confirm it.

We are requesting the following records under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act:

The full HCPD incident report and any supplemental reports for the Nov. 1 pursuit
Dash-camera and body-camera video from the officer or officers involved
Radio and dispatch logs, including any supervisor’s approval or order to end the chase
HCPD’s current vehicle pursuit policy and any revisions since 2023
The number of pursuits HCPD officers have started in 2025 and 2026, and how many ended in crashes

The questions we want answered: What led officers to try to stop the Kia? How fast and how far did the chase go? Did a supervisor monitor or approve it? Was the policy followed? And has anyone from the department contacted the families of the people who died this year?

If you saw the crash, live near Cates Bay Highway, or have experienced a police pursuit in Horry County yourself, we want to hear from you.