Two Greenwood, South Carolina, police officers allegedly left a 56-year-old woman at a closed gas station after midnight in freezing weather. Tracy Denise Brooks used a walker, wore a medical boot and had been drinking. About 90 minutes later, a driver struck and killed her as she walked along a dark rural road. Her son now alleges the officers put her in danger by abandoning her.
Bracy Brooks filed a wrongful death lawsuit in October 2026 against officers Anna Ballenger and Austin Teasley, along with the city of Greenwood, according to Atlanta Black Star. The lawsuit concerns his mother’s death on February 22, 2025.
After the officers dropped her off, Bobby Alfred Lyles struck Brooks from behind as she walked along Siloam Church Road. Her walker was later found in a ditch, the lawsuit says. Lyles had a blood alcohol concentration of .11, above the legal limit of .08. According to court records and the lawsuit, he was charged with DUI and driving with a suspended license, but not with an offense specifically tied to Brooks’ death.
Brooks reportedly pleaded with officers not to leave her
The incident began when Greenwood police received a call from T.W. Boons, a restaurant and bar inside the city. Staff reportedly said Brooks was too intoxicated to remain there. The lawsuit says officers already knew her because she had struggled with alcohol. It also notes that the bar was a short distance from her home, though it does not explain how she got there. Brooks did not want to leave the patrol car, according to the filing. “Don’t put me out here. I don’t want to get out here,” she pleaded. “Take me to jail. It’s cold.”
The officers initially tried to persuade Brooks to get out of the car, the lawsuit says. They then turned off their body cameras. When the cameras were switched back on, Brooks was no longer in the vehicle. The filing alleges that officers removed her “by physical force, coercion, or both, over her express objection.”
The officers had driven Brooks to the Five Points area outside the city limits because she said her brother lived there. But the lawsuit alleges they never tried to locate him. Instead, they left her at the gas station and drove away.
The filing says the officers could have taken Brooks home, brought her to a relative, driven her to a hospital or taken her to jail. It alleges they left her at the gas station because they did not want to spend time at the hospital. Those allegations are yet to be tested in court. The lawsuit also questions the officers’ decision to leave Brooks without help, a concern echoed in the case of a woman left handcuffed in a police car on train tracks.
Two days after Brooks died, a police major reportedly found both officers had violated department policy. He recommended that the chief fire them. The officers’ decision to disable their cameras raises questions about police accountability, particularly in cases involving allegations of misconduct, such as an officer allegedly planting drugs on a man. The suit against Greenwood’s officers alleges they violated a department policy requiring recordings during custody and transport.
Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin rejected the recommendation, telling the major that the drop-off and Brooks’ death 90 minutes later were “two separate incidents,” according to the lawsuit. The filing disputes that conclusion, arguing that her death was a foreseeable consequence of leaving her alone on the road. “Being struck by a vehicle while walking along public roadways late at night was the precise, foreseeable consequence of abandoning her,” the claim states.
Teasley remains employed by the Greenwood Police Department. Ballenger resigned for unrelated reasons, according to the lawsuit.
Published: Oct 28, 2026 06:00 pm