KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Body cameras showed no signs of wrongdoing in the initial response to a deadly boating accident in May which is now at the center of a lawsuit, the Kershaw County sheriff said.
Sheriff Lee Boan said on Thursday that two of his deputies responded to the Patriots Landing boat ramp in Lugoff within minutes of receiving a call regarding an accident on the Wateree River.
He said the deputies began helping emergency medical services personnel with a "severely injured boater." He said they then identified everyone involved.
"Within 10 minutes, my deputies turned everything they had over to the investigative authorities as soon as they arrived," he said, adding that neither his nor the coroner's office has jurisdiction in the case.
Boan said that neither of the deputies in the case is native to Kershaw County, and they didn't know the people involved or their families.
"Neither deputy observed any indicators of alcohol use nor did they see any evidence being compromised," he said.
His statement follows the announcement that the parents of a 15-year-old who died in the crash have secured attorneys from Strom Law Firm and filed suit against several people and five gas station workers.
The lawsuit doesn't name Kershaw County Coroner David West as a defendant. But it makes several claims regarding his actions, suggesting he was one of the first people on the scene as the grandfather of one of the boat operators, Zach Cameron.
The lawsuit alleges that he "inserted himself" in the investigation and told two defendants, Cameron and the other boat operator, Trent Mathis, to "dispose of any residual trash in the boats."
The coroner denied these allegations and the claim that he was among the first to arrive. He also said his discussion with law enforcement was limited, and he had two paid deputy coroners and one unpaid deputy coroner investigate the incident in his place.
In Thursday's statement, the sheriff said he viewed body camera videos that can't yet be released to the public. However, he said they showed "nothing done improperly by my deputies or anyone else recorded on their videos."
Boan said he couldn't release the video to anyone outside the ongoing investigation.
"We look forward to the release of the videos and reports clarifying and addressing the events of that night," he said. "But we cannot allow our emotions and assumptions to cloud the facts or investigation of this case."
