A chase and search on Green Pond Highway Sunday started that afternoon with a a set of keys left in the vehicle.
The driver of a white 2018 Chevy Silverado went in the gas station at 1531 Hampton St. for a pack of cigarettes, leaving the truck unlocked and the keys inside. When he came out of the store, his truck was headed on Hampton Street toward Charleston Highway.
At 9:44 p.m., a Colleton County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted the vehicle on Green Pond Highway. He tried to stop it, but the driver disregarded his lights and sirens.
Using the truck’s OnStar system, deputies were able to track the truck and the OnStar remotely deactivated the vehicle’s engine. The driver abandoned the vehicle on Wood Road and fled on foot with deputies in pursuit. However, they lost sight of the suspect — a black male wearing a red sweatshirt — in the woods between two houses.
Walterboro Police responded to assist with K-9 Officer Hydro to track the suspect in the 400 block of Wood Road. Hydro tracked toward ACE Basin Highway parallel to Wood Road while Colleton County deputies and S.C. Highway patrol officers provided security.
The track moved after a report the suspect was seen near a house. Hydro’s handler spotted a car parked, then leave, the railroad tracks near Green Pond Highway. Footprints were found, but officers believe the suspect left the area in the car seen by the railroad tracks.
The investigation continues.
