Public Safety

The procession escorting Columbus County Sheriff’s Deputy Damien Draper Bost brought the fallen deputy home to Columbus today (June 26) after an autopsy in Raleigh. A mile-long escort of law enforcement vehicles came down U.S. 74 to Cerro Gordo, then to Meares Final Home in Fair Bluff. Two CCSO patrol vehicles draped in mourning are on the front lawn of the funeral home. Bost, 29, died Thursday after...

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...

A Clarkton man was charged in the fatal crash of a Columbus County Sheriff’s Deputy this morning (June 25). David Samuel McPherson, 33, of 941 Page’s Rd., Clarkton, is being held on $100,000 secured bond, according to court records. He is charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle, reckless driving, and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. He was booked into the Columbus County Detention Center at...