Atlantic Beach mayor arrested, charged with hit and run

Atlantic Beach Police arrested the town’s newly-elected mayor late Friday and charged her with one count of hit and run and leaving the scene of an accident.

Police responded to a report of a hit and run in the town just after 1 p.m. Friday on US 17 Business near the 31st Avenue intersection, which is only feet away from the Atlantic Beach Town Hall.

The victim in the case, 51-year-old Dorothy Montgomery, told police she was driving south on US 17 when a white Chevrolet Trailblazer sideswiped her 2002 Ford Taurus, according to a police report.

Montgomery told police she pulled over in the Excitement Video parking lot to inspect the damages to her car and saw “an unknown subject” stop her Chevrolet in the road, get out, then got back into the Chevrolet and drove away, according to the report.

Police estimated the damages to Montgomery’s Ford at $2,000.

Police said several witnesses identified and filed a sworn statement with officers, identifying the driver of the Chevrolet as Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce.

Responding Officers J. Jackson and C. Bryant saw Pierce in her Chevrolet pass through town “a few hours later,” and noticed damage to the front of Pierce’s SUV.

Officers later secured arrest warrants from a Horry County magistrate for Pierce’s arrest in connection to the crash.

Police later tracked Pierce down at around 8 p.m. on 30th Avenue South in Atlantic Beach where Pierce told officers that she planed to report the accident to police Monday because she said it was “so late in the day” when the incident happened.

Pierce denied running from the scene, “I turned in at the Budget Inn, the young lady came up and said, “Mrs. Retha, are you alright?” I said, yeah, I’m alright but what about the person who hit me and we got in the road and looked. She said they hit you and kept right on running and they were speeding. But, I don’t know what color the car was or what,” Pierce told officers at the scene Friday night.

Pierce’s Chevrolet showed damages to the left-front bumper and to the front of the bumper when officers arrested her Friday night.

On Jan. 28, Atlantic Beach Police arrested Pierce after she went to town hall and started arguments with town officials two days in a row, according to Chief Randy Rizzo.

Cell phone video shot by Atlantic Beach Police of the argument showed Taylor and Pierce in a heated argument that at one point caused Rizzo to step in and hold Pierce back.

Police broke up the argument and both sides went their separate ways, according to police.

The next day police said Pierce returned to town hall, argued with town employees again and was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after being told to leave multiple times, according to police.

Horry County Police arrested and charged Pierce with resisting arrest and reckless driving on Dec. 25, 2007 after officer Robert Dale pulled Pierce over near Little River.

A Horry County jury could not reach a verdict in the case in October, with five jurors voting to convict, and one juror deciding Pierce was not guilty.

Pierce is awaiting a new trial on the 2007 charges.

Pierce filed a federal lawsuit against five town employees, including Chief Rizzo, town manager Kenneth McIver, mayor pro-tem Charlene Taylor, town clerk Cheryl Pereira, and former interim town manager Charles Williams.

The federal suit seeks damages in connection to the arrest and what Pierce calls a “coup” she claims town leaders staged against her.

Police booked Pierce into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center at around 9 p.m. Friday.

Pierce remains jailed awaiting a bond hearing on the hit and run charge and one count of driving without insurance.