Deputy Sheriff Hit By Kathryn Dennis' Vehicle Claims 'Southern Charm' Star is Getting 'Special Treatment': 'I Don't Know Why She Hasn't Been Arrested'
The South Carolina deputy sheriff injured in the Kathryn Dennis hit-and-run incident claims investigators are allegedly dragging their feet in smacking the reality star with criminal charges, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
Michelle Ward, 40, was injured during the October 20 incident involving a vehicle owned by the troubled Southern Charm star and has hired a lawyer because investigators from the South Carolina Highway Patrol have kept her in the dark about the 39-day probe.
“They won’t return my calls. I don’t why she hasn’t been charged,” Ward told RadarOnline.com in a telephone interview.
Southern Charm star Kathryn Dennis was labeled a suspect in a hit-and-run in front of an elementary school.
“I don’t know, it sucks that as a fellow law enforcement officer that I am getting this type of treatment,” she added. “If they are treating me this way, I’m really concerned about how they would treat other civilians that are not in law enforcement.”
The bombshell allegation comes weeks after a RadarOnline.com investigation learned Dennis was labeled as the “suspect” who was “arrested” following the terrifying incident in front of the Whitesville Elementary School in Moncks Corner, police documents showed.
“I don’t know if it’s because she’s a local celebrity or actress or it’s because of the family that she is connected to or if it’s just they don’t want to,” Ward added. “I don’t know if they just feel that they don’t have enough – I don’t know. I would like to know why just for my own sanity to know why they haven’t done anything.”
Sheriff's Deputy Michelle Ward, who worked as a school crossing guard, was injured in the incident.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Ward, a Berkeley County Sheriff's deputy who moonlighted as a school crossing guard, said she could have been killed when a vehicle recklessly zoomed past the school zone at a high rate of speed as the officer stood in the middle of the street.
“Luckily, I turned around to notice that she wasn’t stopping because otherwise I would’ve gotten hit in the back – blindsided,” Ward told RadarOnline.com.
Dennis, 32, was tracked down by investigators after Ward used her police radio to give dispatch a description of the vehicle, a partial license plate, and identified the driver as a “white female with dirty blonde hair,” police documents showed.
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- 'Southern Charm' Star Kathryn Dennis Denies Role In Hit-And-Run That Allegedly Left Sheriff Deputy Injured
Ward thinks Dennis is getting special treatment by investigators from South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Ward, who doesn’t watch reality shows, told RadarOnline.com she didn’t know the driver was a reality star until after the incident.
“I had no clue who this person was whatsoever,” she said. “I was told the car came back to ‘Kathryn Dennis’ and everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, do you know who that is?’ And I’m like, ‘the person who hit me!’ And they were like, ‘No. She’s a celebrity.’ I asked, 'A celebrity of what?'”
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Deputy Ward claims her calls to highway patrol investigators are ignored.
Ward said she distinctly remembers the driver’s face, but state investigators have yet to call her into the station house for a line-up to identify the perp. The straight-talking Ward told RadarOnline.com she’s a dedicated police officer who follows the law to the letter.
“I don’t believe in giving anyone a break because of who they know or how much money they make,” she explained. “If you messed up, you messed up. It is what it is. You accept it, you own up to it, you accept the consequences, and you move on with life.”
“I expect it, across the line, these are the laws you don’t get special treatment. I don’t believe in that.”
Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis told RadarOnline.com that Highway Patrol has jurisdiction over the case and his main concern was the health of the deputy.
"Honestly, I don't know where they are with the investigation," he said, referring all questions to Highway Patrol. "I was told by the deputy it was closed but I haven't spoken to anybody about the case. I mean, I don't really know what they are doing."
Messages left with the Highway Patrol public affairs office were not returned.
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