Gaston, SC 09/23/2024 (Paul Kirby) – Chief Stephen Watkins and the officers of the Gaston PD have been known to pursue suspects who have failed to stop when the blue lights come on however, most run toward Calhoun County or south into Orangeburg County. Occasionally, you’ll also see them run down toward Cayce and get on I-77 back toward Richland County. Last Friday night, a young man refused to pull over and started a pursuit that went through Lexington, Richland, and Kershaw counties before it finally came to an end.
Chief Watkins says that last Friday night, officers were on patrol when one attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle for several moving violations near Main Street (US321) and Mack Street. Instead of stopping, the driver of the vehicle initiated a pursuit.
Gaston officers pursued the vehicle on US 321 towards Cayce where officers with that city’s Police Department deployed tire deflation devices. Unfortunately, the suspect vehicle was able to evade that device and got on I-26 west toward Columbia and Spartanburg. Springdale officers jumped on I-26 at the Airport exit and began assisting with this chase. At that time, Chief Watkins radioed and asked that dispatchers let Richland County deputies know they were headed their way.
The Richland County Sheriff's Department entered the pursuit near I26 and Bush River Road. At this point, the Gaston officers fell back allowing Richland deputies to become the primary agency pursuing the bad guy. After a number of miles, the RCSD deputies pursued the vehicle into Kershaw County. There, deputies from the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department were able to successfully deploy tire deflation devices causing the suspects tires to go flat and shred.
Eventually, the fleeing vehicle’s driver, Dylan Echevarria, was taken into custody. As you can imagine, at this point there was no shortage of officers that wanted a few words with him.
First, Echevarria was transported to the Alvin S Glenn Detention Center in Richland County where a bond was set for all the laws he broke in there. As soon as someone posted his bond on those, he was snatched up by Gaston PD and transported to the Lexington County Detention Center.
There he was charged by the Gaston PD with the following:
-Driving Under Suspension 1st
-Failure to Stop for Blue Lights
-Reckless Driving
-Use of Tag on another vehicle
-Disregarding a traffic control device
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Later, Chief Watkins said, “The seamless work of all agencies coming together is what made this arrest successful. I am grateful that when assistance is requested, these agencies assist without hesitation, for one common goal.
They were:
City of Cayce Police Department
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Town of Springdale Police Department
Kershaw County Sheriff's Office
