Fleeing suspect rams tractor-trailer before taking off in police car, SC cops say

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A driver was arrested after he was accused of leading cops on a chase that ended with him crashing a stolen sheriff’s vehicle and running into the woods, according to a South Carolina sheriff’s office.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Office deputies began looking for the driver after receiving an alert on the evening of April 5 about a white van that had “rammed a state trooper” on Interstate 85 in Anderson, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol started to pursue the man.

Deputies joined the pursuit and chased the man until he crashed into an 18-wheeler near the highway’s 15-mile marker, the release says.

Deputies, including a police dog, stopped and exited their patrol vehicles to try to arrest the man. He then “got out of his van, jumped over the hood and entered the K-9 officer’s vehicle,” the release says.

He drove off in the patrol vehicle, and authorities from multiple law enforcement agencies chased him while he drove at “dangerously high speeds,” deputies said.

The man crossed into Oconee County and drove into Oconee, about 35 miles northwest of Anderson, then crashed the patrol vehicle and ran into the woods, according to the release.

Law enforcement set up a perimeter, and a K-9 unit found the man, according to the sheriff’s office. The K-9 bit the man, according to authorities.

He was treated for the bite as well as injuries from the two crashes and running through the woods, the sheriff’s office said. Several deputies were also injured during the chase and were treated.

“They will make full recoveries after this incident,” the release says.

The man was charged with two counts of failure to stop for blue lights and one count of grand larceny, according to the sheriff’s office. He is being held without bond, according to Anderson County jail records.

Anderson is about 115 miles northwest of Columbia.

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