A Texas man was arrested after he was speeding in a stolen pickup truck on a South Carolina highway before the engine caught fire, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
An officer patrolling Interstate 95 on the morning of June 25 spotted a pickup truck traveling northbound over the speed limit. The officer’s radar recorded his speed at 94 mph, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy pursued the truck, whose driver was “driving recklessly,” and also passed other vehicles on the shoulder. During the chase, the truck’s engine caught fire and fuel was spotted on the officer’s car. The truck then drove off the road near mile marker 140 and crashed into a fence next to the highway.
The officer ran to the vehicle to rescue the man and take him into custody, but another officer on the scene saw the man running away along the fence and then across the highway into a wooded area.
More officers and K-9 teams arrived and began searching for the man. They found him hiding in a ditch, where he was arrested.
Donald Edward Reed Jr., 33, of Prairie Grove, Texas, was charged with failing to stop for a blue light, exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph and striking fixtures on or near a highway. The Sumter Sheriff’s Office identified him as a “violent offender” and a “threat 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 taken to a hospital for evaluation. He was then taken to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center, where he is being held for the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
