Every summer, millions of vacationers pour onto the highways and beach roads of Horry County, South Carolina, trusting that the officers patrolling those streets are there to keep them safe.
That trust took a hit on April 10, 2026, when state investigators arrested a former Horry County police officer, Aldrich Roshun Calloway, on charges that he ran a personal ticket-dismissal operation — accepting payments through Cash App, Venmo, and plain cash from the very motorists he had cited. For visitors navigating unfamiliar roads along the Grand Strand, the case is a stark reminder that knowing your rights during a traffic stop matters just as much as knowing the speed limit.
What the Warrants Allege
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division charged Aldrich Roshun Calloway, 35, of Myrtle Beach with two counts of bribery by a public official and two counts of misconduct in office. Aldrich Roshun Calloway held the rank of private first class with the Horry County Police Department at the time of the alleged offenses [WMBF News, 2026].
State investigators documented two separate incidents, both in the Garden City area — a community that sits between Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach and draws heavy tourist foot traffic. In the first, Calloway reportedly wrote a reckless driving citation on March 21 and then contacted the motorist through Facebook, directing the person to call him.
That driver recorded the subsequent phone conversation on April 2nd. During the call, Calloway allegedly told the motorist he would make the ticket disappear in exchange for $400 sent digitally, claiming he kept a personal log of citations he regularly erased for people who compensated him through payment apps [Post and Courier, 2026].
The second episode came just days later. On April 5th, Aldrich Roshun Calloway issued a pair of tickets — one for illegal window tint, another for a vehicle modification known as “squatting” — then allegedly met the driver in a parking lot and proposed wiping both citations for $200 in cash.
When that motorist asked point-blank whether the arrangement qualified as bribery, Aldrich Roshun Calloway reportedly dismissed the concern, characterizing it as an informal, off-the-books agreement [WPDE, 2026].
Digital Payment Apps as Instruments of Petty Corruption
What distinguishes this case from older bribery scandals is the alleged use of consumer financial technology. Cash App and Venmo were designed to make splitting a restaurant check effortless, not to serve as conduits for public corruption.
Yet the very qualities that make these platforms convenient — speed, minimal paper trail, no face-to-face exchange required — also make them attractive to anyone looking to move money quietly. Calloway’s alleged references to multiple platforms suggest he viewed digital payments as interchangeable tools in a flexible pricing scheme, adjusting amounts and methods to suit the situation.
This digital dimension also introduces new investigative opportunities. Unlike a handshake exchange of bills in a parking lot, electronic transactions generate metadata — timestamps, account links, transaction records — that prosecutors can subpoena. The recorded phone call in the first incident adds another evidentiary layer. In an ironic twist, the same technology allegedly used to facilitate corruption may also be what unravels it in court.
A Department Already Under Scrutiny
The Calloway arrest does not land in a vacuum. The Horry County Police Department has weathered significant institutional turbulence over the past year. In March 2025, former Deputy Chief Brandon Strickland resigned amid a SLED investigation into his alleged misconduct during a 2023 road rage death investigation. Both SLED and the FBI were asked to review evidence in that case [WBTW, 2025].
The fallout was substantial enough that a state lawmaker introduced a bill in 2025 proposing to dissolve the department entirely and transfer its responsibilities to the Horry County Sheriff’s Office — a measure that, if approved, could take effect as early as mid-2026 [WBTW, 2025].
Against that backdrop, the Aldrich Roshun Calloway charges amplify a narrative that the department’s leadership cannot afford: that individual officers are exploiting their authority for personal profit while the institution itself struggles with oversight.
Whether or not these cases are connected, perception matters. For a county whose economy runs on tourism dollars, every headline questioning the integrity of local law enforcement carries a cost that extends well beyond the courtroom.
What Myrtle Beach Visitors Need to Know
If you’re visiting the Grand Strand this season, here is the practical takeaway. South Carolina treats bribery as a felony-level offense for both the person offering and the person soliciting. If an officer ever suggests a private financial arrangement in exchange for dropping a ticket, do not engage.
Accept the citation, remain polite, and document the interaction as thoroughly as you can — recording is legal in South Carolina as long as one party to the conversation consents, and you are that party.
Report any solicitation to SLED directly or to the department’s internal affairs division. Out-of-state visitors sometimes assume that fighting a traffic ticket from hundreds of miles away isn’t worth the effort, and that vulnerability is precisely what an alleged scheme like this could exploit. A legitimate ticket can be contested through proper legal channels; an under-the-table payment only puts you at legal risk while rewarding misconduct.
Accountability and the Road Ahead
Aldrich Roshun Calloway was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on April 10, with bond set at $20,000. The 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case, and his next court date falls on May 15 [Post and Courier, 2026]. He is no longer employed by the Horry County Police Department.
One officer’s alleged misconduct should not define the work of the hundreds of men and women who patrol Horry County honestly every day. But accountability depends on systems, not just individuals.
The fact that Aldrich Roshun Calloway allegedly described his operation as routine — complete with a personal ledger and multiple payment channels — raises unavoidable questions about whether internal monitoring caught any irregularities in his citation dismissal patterns before a citizen’s recorded phone call forced the issue.
Those answers will matter not only for the prosecution but for every tourist who hands over a driver’s license during a traffic stop and trusts that the process is legitimate. For now, the justice system has the case. The community — locals and visitors alike — will be watching closely.
