Draper Bost loved children and being a law enforcement officer, Sheriff Bill Rogers said today (today) at a press conference about the deputy’s death.
The School Resource Officer was killed when his patrol vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer around 10:47 a.m. He was pronounced dead at Columbus Regional at 11:44 a.m., Rogers said. The driver of the truck, David Samuel McPherson of Clarkton, is being held on charges of misdemeanor death by vehicle and reckless driving. The Highway Patrol is investigating.
Bost was one of two deputies escorting a painting crew on U.S. 74 near Hallsboro. The deputies were operating their blue lights at the time, Rogers said.
SROs regularly take on other duties after the end of the school year. Bost was a member of the county’s DARE team as well.
“Whenever you’d see the lion dancing around at a DARE program,” Rogers said, “that was him. He was always our lion.”
Bost, 29, was a Columbus County Sheriff’s Deputy for eight years, Rogers said.
“He was always there for the kids,” Rogers said. “You’d see him at ball game, parades.”
Rogers said the loss hit home even harder for him, having been a State Trooper before becoming sheriff.
“I was praying all the way to the hospital,” he said. “I went straight there. I just prayed he would be all right.”
Rogers said deputies from Brunswick, Robeson and Bladen and Whiteville Police are assisting with patrol duties in the county. The State Bureau of Investigation is also standing by to assist with the investigation. Grief counselors and the CCSO chaplain have been available throughout the day as well.
“Law enforcement is like a big family,” he said. “We always come together for our own.”
Rogers said that while details on the crash are still being investigated, the deputies likely saved the lives of the painting crew. He also noted the state’s Move Over Law, which requires motorists to slow down in construction zones.
“Someone could have run over the entire painting crew,” he said.
Bost is being remembered as a “happy, laughing man” who “loved joking around,” Rogers said. Bost was devoted to his wife Jayden and their two small children.
“He just enjoyed life,” Rogers said.
Thursday afternoon, members of multiple law enforcement agencies escorted Bost’s body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office, where an official cause of death will be determined.
The investigation is continuing.
