Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Man Steals Cruiser, Leads Police on
Chase - Crashing into a Tree
POLICE
SURFSIDE BEACH
A Surfside Beach man is in custody after police say he stole a state
trooper's cruiser and evaded several law enforcement agencies on a chase that
ended with the man crashing into a tree and a fence .
Shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, an off-duty state trooper reported that someone
was driving erratically on U.S. 17 Bypass, said Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the
S.C. Highway Patrol. Another officer stopped the man at a gas station at Glenns
Bay Road and U.S. 17 Bypass and found suspicious packets of powder, he said.
The officer arrested and handcuffed the man, then put him in the front seat of
the patrol car with a seat belt on, Gaulden said. When the officer went back
to the man's car he heard the horn blow in the cruiser and saw man drive away
toward Surfside Beach, Gaulden said.
Gaulden said Horry County police pursued and lost the man, who then abandoned
the patrol car and stole another.
Horry County police began pursuing the man again on S.C. 707, then the man
drove off the road and hit a fence and a tree, Gaulden said.
The man was taken to Waccamaw Regional Medical Center. His condition was unknown
late Friday. Charges are pending, Gaulden said.