GREENWOOD, S.C. — Relatives of Tracy Brooks, a 56-year-old woman killed by a car in February 2025, have taken Greenwood city government and a pair of its police officers to court, claiming the officers dropped her off at a shuttered gas station in the cold not long before she died.
The wrongful death complaint went in Oct. 22 at the Greenwood County Court of Common Pleas. Bracy Brooks, acting for the estate, names the city along with officers Anna Ballenger and Austin Teasley. The suit also raises federal civil rights claims and asks for a jury trial.
According to the filing, staff at T.W. Boons on Main Street summoned Greenwood Police Department officers overnight Feb. 22 into Feb. 23 because they were worried about Brooks. The suit says she used a walker, wore a medical boot and had been drinking. Instead of a hospital or jail, she was driven toward Five Points, outside city limits, and left at a dark gas station with the temperature near 28 degrees.
About an hour and a half later, she was walking on Siloam Church Road close to McKellar Drive when a northbound car struck her, the complaint says. It also claims the police chief turned down a recommendation to fire both officers. Ballenger resigned in June 2025, while Teasley is still with the department. The claims have not been proven in court.
Section: More Greenwood SC crime news
Filed under: Greenwood SC Public Safety News
