Charges dropped against deputy after 2 died in flooded van

MARION, S.C. (AP) — Criminal charges have been dropped against a former deputy who was helping to transport two mental health patients who drowned while locked in the back of a van that was driven into floodwaters caused by 2018′s Hurricane Florence in South Carolina. The van’s driver, former deputy Stephen Flood, was convicted in May of two counts of reckless homicide and is serving nine years in prison. But authorities decided to drop charges against Horry County Deputy Joshua Bishop, who was riding along and didn’t realize until it was too late that Flood was risking their lives. The two women had been involuntarily committed for mental health care and were being transferred for treatment outside Horry County.