Former cop facing DUI charge in wreck that killed Albemarle biker in Myrtle Beach

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/05/18/2306075/albemarle-cyclist-killed-in-wreck.html Former cop facing DUI charge in wreck that killed Albemarle biker in Myrtle Beach

 (Myrtle Beach) Sun News Posted: Wednesday, May. 18, 2011
Larry Dennis Hardee, 62, of North Myrtle Beach
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. A former Myrtle Beach police officer is jailed and facing a felony driving-under-the-influence charge after police say he was involved in a crash Tuesday night that killed a motorcyclist from Albemarle.
Rocky Lane Huneycutt, 49, an officer at the N.C. Department of Corrections facility in Albemarle, died of injuries suffered in the collision with a pickup truck in North Myrtle Beach, police say.
The crash happened about 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Sea Mountain Highway and Hill Street in North Myrtle Beach, said Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick. Huneycutt died a short time later at Seacoast Medical Center in Little River, Hendrick said. The coroner said Huneycutt suffered head and chest injuries.
The crash happened in the westbound lanes of Sea Mountain Highway at the intersection, according to a police report.
Larry Dennis Hardee, 62, of North Myrtle Beach, is charged with felony driving under the influence with death results, said Pat Dowling, spokesman for North Myrtle Beach. Hardee also was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way, jail records show.
Hardee worked as a police officer at the Myrtle Beach Police Department from July 1975 until June 1996 when he retired as a lieutenant, according to city records.
Hardee was given a field sobriety test at the scene before he was taken into custody, according to the report. He then was taken to the North Myrtle Beach jail following the crash but refused to take a Breathalyzer test, Dowling said. Police then took Hardee to a hospital to have blood drawn, before being returned to jail, Dowling said.
Officers interviewed witnesses at the scene and learned Huneycutt was driving west on Sea Mountain Highway at a safe speed while Hardee was going east and tried to make a left turn onto Hill Street, according to the report.
Witnesses reported the traffic signal was green at the time of the crash and Hardee turned in front of Huneycutt's motorcycle, according to the report. Huneycutt's silver Harley Davidson motorcycle struck the right front quarter panel of Hardee's burgandy Ford F-150 truck.
It was not immediately known if Huneycutt was wearing a helmet, Hendrick said. S.C. law does not require motorcycle riders older than 21 to wear helmets.
Huneycutt has owned motorcycles throughout his life, according to a neighbor, Vera Smith. He had purchased the motorcycle he was riding last year, she said.
Huneycutt is survived by a son, who recently graduated from high school, a sister and his parents, Smith said.
"It broke our hearts. It was awful shocking," Smith said of the news of Huneycutt's death. "He was a friendly sort of guy. Everybody liked him."
Smith said her son and husband had spoken to Huneycutt's family late Tuesday and early Wednesday. "They're pretty torn up," she said.
Huneycutt had worked as a correctional officer since 2003 at the Albemarle Correctional Institution, said George Dudley, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections.
Huneycutt's death is the second to occur during the Cruisin' the Coast Spring Bike Rally, which started Friday, and the fifth death of a motorcyclist in the last month in Horry County. Robert Wayne Dew, 54, of Loris was killed Monday night after he crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle into a motorcycle ridden by a relative, officials said.