Former Greenwood Police Major Says Officers Left Woman at Closed Gas Station Shortly Before She Was Struck and Killed

EXCLUSIVE: Former Greenwood Police Major Says Officers Left Woman at Closed Gas Station Shortly Before She Was Struck and Killed

By CC News Desk | Broken Badges Series

GREENWOOD, S.C. — What happened to Tracy Brooks in the hours before she was struck and killed on a Greenwood County road may be far more complicated than what the public was initially told.

Brooks was killed early Sunday morning, February 23, 2025, after she was struck by a vehicle while walking or standing in the northbound lane of Siloam Church Road.

Initial news reports described what appeared to be a tragic pedestrian collision.

But CC News Network has learned that Brooks had an encounter with Greenwood police shortly before her death — an encounter that a former high-ranking Greenwood Police Department official says became the subject of an internal investigation.

The former official says he personally reviewed body-camera footage from the encounter and raised serious concerns with then-police leadership about the officers’ actions.

And CC News has separately learned that the driver who struck Brooks was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving under suspension in connection with the incident, according to records reviewed by CC News.

Those charges were not mentioned in the initial news reports reviewed by CC News.

The Night Tracy Brooks Died

According to the former Greenwood Police Department major, Brooks was at T.W. Boons late Saturday night when police were called.

Brooks was well known to local officers, he said, and had an orthopedic boot on one leg and was using a walker.

Rather than arrest Brooks or take her to a hospital, officers allegedly agreed to give her a ride toward the Five Points area after Brooks said she had a brother who lived there.

According to the former major, an officer identified as Ballinger transported Brooks in a police vehicle.

But Brooks reportedly could not direct the officer to her brother’s home.

Eventually, according to the former major, Brooks was taken to a gas station in the Five Points area which is outside of the city limits of Greenwood.

The former major said the gas station was closed.

What allegedly happened next is now one of the central questions surrounding Brooks’ death.

“Don’t Put Me Out Here”

The former major told CC News that he later personally reviewed body-camera footage from the encounter as part of an internal investigation.

According to his account, Brooks did not want to be left at the gas station.

He recalled Brooks telling the officer words to the effect of:

“Don’t put me out here. I don’t want to get out here. Take me to jail.”

The former major said another Greenwood police officer, Austin Teasley, was called to the location.

He said body-camera footage showed officers attempting to persuade Brooks to get out of the police vehicle.

Then, he alleges, both officers’ body cameras were turned off.

When the encounter was over, Brooks was outside the police vehicle.

The former major said he could not determine from the footage he reviewed exactly how Brooks ultimately got out of the vehicle.

That gap in the video record could become a critical issue.

Dead Less Than 90 Minutes Later

According to the former major’s recollection, fewer than 90 minutes after Brooks was left in the Five Points area, she was struck by a vehicle on Siloam Church Road.

The Greenwood County Coroner’s Office said it was called to the 300 block of Siloam Church Road at approximately 2:05 a.m.

Authorities said Brooks was walking or standing in the northbound lane when a northbound vehicle struck her.

She died at the scene.

The former major told CC News that he believed Brooks never would have been on that road had officers not transported her away from the area where they originally encountered her.

That is his opinion, and questions of legal responsibility remain unresolved.

Former Major Says Internal Investigation Followed

The former major said he learned about the circumstances surrounding Brooks’ death the following morning from another police supervisor.

He said he subsequently informed the police chief about the relatively short period between the police encounter and Brooks’ death.

According to the former major, the chief initially viewed the police encounter and fatal collision as “two separate incidents.”

But questions about Brooks’ interaction with police reportedly did not disappear.

The former major said Greenwood City Councilman Robert Dean, who also had ties to the funeral home handling Brooks’ arrangements, later approached the department because Brooks’ friends and family wanted answers.

According to the former major, he was then directed to conduct an internal investigation.

It was during that investigation, he says, that he reviewed the officers’ body-camera footage.

The former major told CC News he eventually recommended that the officers be terminated.

He went even further, saying that, in his personal opinion at the time, the circumstances warranted consideration of involuntary manslaughter.

Department leadership disagreed, according to his account.

No criminal finding against the officers has been established, and CC News is not alleging that either officer committed a crime.

Was Brooks Intoxicated?

Another major discrepancy involves Brooks’ condition that night.

According to the former major, officers involved in the encounter maintained that Brooks was not intoxicated.

He said officers knew Brooks from previous encounters and believed they knew what she looked like when intoxicated.

But the former major claims subsequent toxicology testing showed a significant level of intoxication.

CC News has not yet independently verified the toxicology result and is therefore not publishing a specific blood-alcohol level at this time.

The distinction could be important.

If Brooks was significantly impaired, physically limited by an orthopedic boot and walker, and asking officers not to leave her at the location, those circumstances could become important in determining whether the officers complied with department policy and whether their actions contributed to what happened next.

Driver Arrested on DUI and DUS Charges

There is another previously little-publicized component of the case.

CC News has obtained information showing that the driver who struck Brooks was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and driving under suspension in connection with the fatal collision.

An arrest is not a conviction, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

However, the DUI and DUS charges are significant because initial media accounts of Brooks’ death did not report that the driver had been arrested on those charges.

Those reports simply stated that Brooks had been struck by a vehicle while in the roadway.

CC News is reviewing the criminal case to determine the exact allegations against the driver and the ultimate disposition of those charges.

Will a Wrongful-Death Lawsuit be Filed?

Will the Brooks case now move into civil court?

A wrongful-death action could filed on behalf of Tracy Denise Brooks’ estate. 

CC News reached out to the Greenwood police and they responded by saying, “Because this matter involves pending litigation, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the specific allegations or details of the case at this time.

Questions Greenwood Needs to Answer

More than a year after Tracy Brooks died, several basic questions remain.

Why did Greenwood police transport Brooks from T.W. Boons?

Why was she taken toward Five Points rather than to her home, a hospital or jail?

Was the gas station open when officers left her there?

Was Brooks intoxicated or otherwise impaired?

Did she ask officers not to leave her?

Did she ask to be taken to jail?

Why did the officers’ body cameras stop recording during the encounter?

What happened while those cameras were off?

What did the subsequent internal investigation conclude?

Were either of the officers disciplined?

And what did Greenwood Police Department leadership know about the encounter when Brooks’ death was initially reported to the public? What does the mayor’s office know about this situation?

CC News Network is seeking the body-camera recordings, camera audit logs, dispatch records, radio traffic, police vehicle location data, internal-investigation records, department policies, toxicology findings and court records associated with the DUI/DUS case.

The public reporting surrounding Tracy Brooks’ death initially told the story of a pedestrian struck and killed on a dark Greenwood County road.

The records — and the account of a former Greenwood police major who says he investigated what happened before the collision — may tell a much larger story.

CC News Network is continuing to investigate.

About the Author

CC News Network Investigative Desk

Author

The CC News Network Investigative Desk

Visit Website View All Posts