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Sarah Belton Parson

Age : 80

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 04/03/2022

Location : 651 Highway 28 Bypass

City : Anderson

County : Anderson

State : South Carolina

Agency : Anderson County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Jonathan Westbrook

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police vehicle responding to emergency call

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: No pursuit. Anderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Westbrook was responding to a reported armed robbery when the sheriff’s office vehicle he was driving struck Parson’s vehicle. Subsequent wrongful-death litigation alleged Westbrook was traveling 101 mph two seconds before the collision.
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NARRATIVE:
On 04/03/2022, 80-year-old Sarah Belton Parson of Anderson was killed when an Anderson County Sheriff’s Office vehicle driven by Deputy Jonathan Westbrook struck her 2003 Nissan as she was entering Highway 28 Bypass in Anderson. Westbrook was responding to a reported armed robbery.
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The collision occurred at approximately 3:40 p.m. near the Walmart at 651 Highway 28 Bypass, also known as Pearman Dairy Road, approximately four miles west of Anderson. South Carolina Highway Patrol reported that the sheriff’s office vehicle was traveling on Highway 28 Bypass when it collided with Parson’s vehicle as she attempted to enter the roadway.
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Evidence subsequently disclosed through a wrongful-death lawsuit substantially expanded the initial public account of the collision. The lawsuit alleged that Westbrook was traveling 101 mph two seconds before striking Parson’s vehicle and passed through a red traffic signal before the collision.
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Parson sustained multiple traumatic injuries from blunt-force trauma. Emergency personnel treated her at the scene before she was airlifted to Prisma Health in Greenville. She died at the hospital at 5:02 p.m.
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The Anderson County Coroner’s Office, South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Highway Patrol’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team investigated the fatal collision. The coroner’s original public statement identified Parson by name and confirmed that her vehicle was struck by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Office vehicle responding to an emergency call.
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Parson’s family subsequently filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Jonathan Westbrook and Sheriff Chad McBride. The lawsuit alleged gross negligence arising from Westbrook’s operation of the sheriff’s office vehicle while responding to the armed-robbery call.
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Parson’s death had an especially direct connection to local law enforcement: two of her surviving grandchildren worked in law enforcement, with one serving as a lieutenant with the Anderson Police Department and another as a lieutenant with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Anderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Westbrook was driving the sheriff’s office vehicle that struck and killed Parson. Westbrook, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Chad McBride were subsequently named in wrongful-death litigation filed by Parson’s family. The lawsuit alleged Westbrook was traveling 101 mph two seconds before the collision and had passed through a red traffic signal. These were allegations made in the civil litigation rather than findings of criminal wrongdoing.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.andersoncountysc.org/departments-a-z/coroner/
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/04/03/schp-2-injured-after-crash-involving-upstate-deputy/
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2022/09/13/family-woman-hit-by-anderson-county-deputy-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/
https://wsnwradio.com/schp-two-wrecks-in-anderson-county-on-sunday-proved-fatal/
https://www.thestanleylawgroup.com/family-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit-after-sheriffs-deputy-strikes-grandmothers-vehicle-during-high-speed-chase/