Authorities have called off the hunt for two men near Cades and hope to confirm the suspect's identities and obtain warrants, Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett said.
Sheriff’s deputies from Clarendon, Florence and Williamsburg counties were in Cades on Friday evening as they sought two men who led them on a chase in a van stolen in Georgia, Garrett said.
The search had been called off by 7:30 p.m.
The chase began about 4 p.m. Friday, when a Clarendon County deputy tried to pull the driver of the stolen van over for speeding on S.C. 527 at the Williamsburg-Clarendon county line, Garrett said.
The men, after taking a route that brought them through the intersection of Main Street and Ron McNair Boulevard in Lake City, traveled south and abandoned the vehicle before running into the woods near U.S. 52 and S.C. 512. There, law enforcement officers set up a perimeter.
One man remained in the woods, while the other stole a pickup idling outside a house in Cades, Garrett said. Authorities later recovered the pickup in Georgetown County, he said.
The Florence County Sheriff's Office brought in its K-9 tracking team to help hunt the two men, and a State Law Enforcement Division sent a helicopter to assist with the search, Garrett said.
The man in the stolen pickup nearly struck a deputy with the vehicle, Garrett said. The deputy, who had been running in pursuit of the man, fired two shots at the man as he drove away, Garrett said.
The sheriff said he doesn't think the bullets struck the man in the pickup.
Although the sheriff said he doesn't know the men's identities, he said there's reason to think they've committed burglaries at homes as well as thefts of all-terrain vehicles and other items.
Anybody with information regarding the subjects’ whereabouts should call the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office at (803) 435-4414 or Crime Stoppers of the Pee Dee at (866) 369-8477 (TIPS). Callers do not have to reveal their identities.
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