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A South Carolina police officer named Kayla Wallace is being recognized and praised after she reportedly rescued a woman from an abductor on May 28, 2023. The incident took place while Wallace was patrolling US Highway 17 in North Myrtle Beach at around 5.30 am. After a car drove through a red light, Kayla Wallace conducted a traffic stop.
The officer mentioned that a woman was driving the car while a man was in the passenger seat. The driver looked quite distressed when Kayla Wallace saw her. Shortly after the car was stopped, Wallace noticed a BOLO alert was put out for a nearby car involved in a shooting.
The man in the passenger seat was later recognized as Collins Bates, 29, and currently is facing multiple charges. Authorities later recovered an illegal firearm from under Bates’ seat in the vehicle that the distressed woman was driving.
Officer Kayla Wallace stopped the white jeep after the driver disregarded a red light
On May 28, 2023, South Carolina officer Kayla Wallace saved a woman from an abductor in a white jeep. After the jeep disregarded a red light at an intersection, Wallace conducted a traffic stop. After talking to the driver, Wallace noticed that she was visibly distressed. Shortly after that, the driver mouthed “Help me,” while the man in the passenger seat wasn’t looking.
Kayla Wallace realized something was wrong and asked the man to step out of the car and put him in the patrol car. She then went to speak to the driver, who claimed that she was too nervous and had mistakenly missed the red light in the previous intersection. The driver also “frantically” claimed that the man who was sitting next to her had just shot someone. Officer Wallace wrote in the police report:
“I gave loud orders for her to close the door. The passenger also opened his door and stated that the windows don’t roll down. The driver then told me that she felt like she was going to throw up.”
Soon after receiving this information, Wallace was made aware of a BOLO alert over the radio in her patrol car about a shooting that happened outside a restaurant in the Myrtle Beach area named The Waterway House. Authorities later identified the man as 29-year-old Collins Bates and arrested him for the alleged shooting.
Officer Wallace reportedly had no information about the shooting before the traffic stop
Talking about the incident, Officer Pat Wilkinson said:
“[Officer Wallace] did not know anything about the shooting prior to her stop. She was being a proactive police officer and simply observed a traffic violation 30 minutes before the end of her shift.”
Following Bates' arrest, North Myrtle Beach police department praised Officer Kayla Wallace, writing:
“Our department and our community are lucky to have Officer Wallace. Great Job!”
According to a Horry County police report, the suspect reportedly shot an individual in the stomach outside the Waterway House and then forced the woman in the white Jeep to help him flee the alleged crime site. Authorities also stated that the gun found in the car matched the caliber of the casing recovered from the shooting site.
Collins Bates currently faces several charges, including kidnapping, unlawful carrying of a firearm, and attempted murder. He is currently being held in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center without a bond.
