Questions continue to surround case of man's death while walking down I-95

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

News 12 at 6 O'Clock

ORANGEBURG, SC (WRDW/WAGT) -- Questions continue to surround the case of a man who was killed while walking down Interstate 95 in Orangeburg County last year.

Those questions surround an EMT and a paramedic who treated Paul Tarashuk before he was released from their care and into the care of an Orangeburg County deputy.

That deputy dropped Tarashuk off 18 miles away at a closed gas station.

The paramedic is allowed to keep working after South Carolina ruled she and the other EMT abandoned Tarashuk instead of taking him to a nearby hospital.

Tarashuk's toxicology report showed he had no drugs in his system at the time of his death. Instead, Tarashuk was suffering from a schizophrenic episode when he was struck and killed.

But four hours before his death, Tarashuk was treated in the back of an ambulance while the crew berated him and called him names.

As Tarashuk exited the back of the ambulance, the deputy told him he would give him a ride.

Tarashuk was dropped off 18 miles away at a gas station. Surveillance footage from the gas station showed the last video of Tarashuk alive.

A few hours later, a woman dialed 911 to say she struck a man on the interstate. It was Tarashuk.

Four departments responded to the incident that night: the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Santee Police Department, Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, and EMS.

We don't know why the deputy dropped him off at the gas station, why EMS didn't take him to the hospital, or why the state continues to allow the paramedic to work under another certification.

We're continuing to dig on this story.