Update: North Myrtle Beach man faces murder after hitting pedestrian 3 times with vehicle
A North Myrtle Beach man faces a murder charge in the death of a 20-year-old pedestrian, who was struck and killed by a vehicle early Tuesday morning in a gas station parking lot.
Rudy Lopez, from the North Myrtle Beach area, died after being struck by a vehicle in the Tiger Mart parking lot in Little River, according to a release from the Horry County Coroner’s Office. Lopez died from blunt force trauma.
The incident has been ruled a homicide, the coroner’s office said.
Austin Coleman, 21, was charged by Horry County Police with murder Tuesday. He remains in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center without bail.
The crash happened at 7:18 a.m. at Highway 9 and Highway 57, according to Horry County Fire Rescue in a Facebook post.
An arrest warrant said that Coleman struck Lopez with his vehicle, a 2022 Toyota RAV4, three separate times. The incident was caught on store surveillance and witnessed by multiple people in the parking lot.
Prior to returning the vehicle back home, in which it was reported stolen, Coleman took the vehicle through the car wash, the warrant says. However, police found blood on the undercarriage of the vehicle.
Coleman and Lopez have no knowledge of each other, the warrant said.
