Former Tenn. Tech football player charged in deadly hit-and-run

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) — An investigation is underway after a former Tennessee Tech football player was arrested on charges of driving under the influence in a deadly hit-and-run in South Carolina Saturday.

23-year-old Riley Patton is charged with felony DUI resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident involving death after officials say he struck a truck and pedestrian around 1:00 a.m off Hwy 544 and Cabots Creek Drive near Myrtle Beach.

According to Max Preps, Patton played long snapper, center, and defensive tackle at Halls High School. He graduated in 2015.

SCHP says Patton was driving his 2002 GMC truck eastbound on 544 when he ran into the center median, hitting a 2001 Ford truck in that lane and a pedestrian near the Ford truck.

The Horry County Coroner’s Office says 55-year-old Timothy “Timmy” Shulkcum of Myrtle Beach was hit by the GMC truck and pronounced dead at the scene.

Corporal Sonny Collins with the South Carolina Highway Patrol says Patton continued driving after the incident before being apprehended at a nearby grocery store.

A spokesperson with Coastal Carolina University confirms Patton is currently enrolled as a student. Patton was listed as a long snapper on the 2019 Coastal Carolina Football roster, but the walk-on graduate transfer played no snaps as a Chanticleer. CCU says Patton no longer has eligibility.

“Riley Patton is a student at Coastal Carolina and was a member of the football team in the fall semester and no longer has eligibility,” a spokesman said in a text to WMBF News. “Thus he is no longer a member of the football team.”

At an initial bond hearing in Conway Saturday, a Horry County judge set Patton’s bond at $200,000 for the hit-and-run and DUI charges. Patton is also required to wear a location monitoring system.

The Knoxville, Tennessee native spent the first four years of his college career at Tennessee Tech.

SCHP says the investigation is ongoing.

WMBF News will continue to update this developing story as more information is made available.

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