Columbia officer killed in wreck not wearing seatbelt

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Investigators say the Columbia police officer killed in a wreck last month while responding to a shooting call near a downtown restaurant was not wearing her seatbelt.

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a news conference Monday that a special team of state troopers also found Officer Stacy Case drove through a red light into a downtown Columbia intersection at 64 mph and never hit her brakes before the Nov. 7 wreck.

Troopers determined Case’s cruiser was hit on the driver’s side by University of South Carolina Police Sgt. Allan Bolin at 76 mph. Bolin also wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. He survived.

Holbrook says even though she violated department policy, Case remains a hero who died in the line of duty.