Updated: 4:50 PM EDT Jun 3, 2021
An arrest has been made in the deadly hit-and-run that killed a woman and her dog Saturday along Augusta Street in Greenville. Brittany Langley Lawson, 38, was running with her dog about 7:15 a.m. near the Westminster Church when a vehicle crossed the oncoming lanes and hit her and the dog, Senior Deputy Coroner Kent Dill said.The SUV involved was left at the scene but everyone inside it ran away, Dill said. On Tuesday, Greenville officials said the vehicle involved was stolen and a suspect in the theft was in custody. On Thursday, police said Veronica Dawn Tharp, 38, had stolen the vehicle shortly before the collision and charged her with possession of a stolen vehicle late Saturday. Based on evidence from the scene, statements from witnesses and CCTV footage, investigators determined that Tharp was driving a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer when she crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic, mounted a sidewalk and struck the victim, who was walking. After the collision, Tharp fled the scene on foot without rendering aid or notifying law enforcement, as required by law, officials said. She was also found to be operating a vehicle with a suspended driver’s license. Tharp is charged with reckless homicide, hit and run with death and driving under suspension. She is currently being held at the Greenville County Detention Center without bond. "The City Engineer has a meeting scheduled with SCDOT representatives later this week to discuss options to improve driver and pedestrian safety in the Augusta Street area," Brotherton said. Nearby neighbors said they'd like to see some traffic and infrastructure changes to the roadway.Craig Evans said he and his wife have lived in the same house near Augusta Street for nearly 19 years."It's horrible but this will have been, I think, the fifth person killed at that intersection since we've lived here and they've got to change that," he said. "Something has to be done."Jon McKnight, another homeowner in the area, agrees."I don't know what the answer is to it, but just slow it down," he said. "That would be one of the biggest things that would help, I think. Slow people down."