Pine Ridge, SC (Paul Kirby) – Pine Ridge has always been a sleepy little town and that’s the way its residents like it. There’s not much crime and often, the monthly police report to council will reflect that with a small number of traffic tickets issued or calls for services as proof that most people behave themselves. Thursday evening however, a law breaker thought he might slip through Pine Ridge unnoticed and continue elsewhere with crime in mind. Perhaps he thought, since the Police Department is small, how much trouble can they really be? He found out he shouldn’t have tried them after he led the PRPD on a high-speed chase that ended with the Chevy SUV he was driving wrecked and the suspect in jail!
The driver was coming through Pine Ridge when his vehicle caught the eye of a patrolling officer. That member of the Police Department attempted to pull him over, but when the cruisers lights came on, the suspect initiated a chase.
The fleeing vehicle went down Fish Hatchery Road with the PRPD in hot pursuit. Pine Ridge was calling the chase over the radio and trying to direct multiple agencies to get in front of the fleeing driver to deploy stop sticks. Pine Ridge’s Police Chief Frankie Neeley, an officer with decades of experience, stayed with the speeding SUV as they turned onto Busbee Road heading over to Gaston. Each time someone would get in position to deploy the tire deflators, the suspect would turn in the opposite direction away from the trap. The Pine Ridge cruiser stuck to the suspect like glue as they turned on Hwy 321.back north toward Cayce. The fleeing driver eventually turned down Garners Terrace Road, ran back over to Hwy. 321 and then took a right on Dixiana Drive. If you know the area, you might note here that the suspect had about made a big circle and was almost back in Pine Ridge!
Noticing he was having no luck losing the chief, the suspect turned down a dirt road, perhaps thinking he could either dust the police off or find a spot to slow, jump out, and flee on foot. Eventually, the chase ended when the driver lost control and crashed. The Pine Ridge Police were right there to take driver into custody.
The SC Highway Patrol was called to investigate the wreck which is standard procedure when a fleeing vehicle crashes during a pursuit. The suspect was transported and booked into the Lexington County Detention Center on a multitude of charges and Pine Ridge returned to normal thanks to the work of their police.
