A Texas man was arrested after driving a stolen pickup truck too fast on a South Carolina highway before the engine burst into flames, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
A deputy patrolling Interstate 95 on the morning of June 25 noticed a pickup truck speeding north. The deputy’s radar recorded its speed at 94 mph, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy pursued the truck, whose driver was driving “recklessly,” including passing other vehicles on the side of the road. During the chase, the truck’s engine caught fire, spraying fuel onto the deputy’s car. The truck then left the road near mile marker 140 and struck a fence next to the highway.
The officer ran to the vehicle to rescue and arrest the man, but another officer who arrived at the scene saw the man run away along the fence and then run across the highway into a wooded area.
Additional officers and sniffer dogs arrived and began searching for the man. They found him hiding in a ditch and took him into custody.
Donald Edward Reed Jr., 33, of Prairie Grove, Texas, was charged with failure to stop for a blue light, speeding 30 miles per hour and striking buildings on or off the highway. The Sumter Sheriff’s Office called him a “violent offender” and “a menace to law enforcement.”
Further investigation revealed that the truck had been stolen from a Colleton County resident.
Reed refused medical attention at the scene but was transported to the hospital for evaluation. He was then transported to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Detention Center, where he is being held for the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
