Police and a dog team were unable to find a suspect who they say fled a traffic stop and crashed shortly after a high-speed chase in the Bluffton area early Wednesday morning.
Bluffton Police Department spokesman Eddie Moody said the BMW sedan was pulled over around 1 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Hidden Lakes Drive and Simmonsville Road for an equipment violation.
The driver initially complied with the stop and issued his driver’s license to police. But Moody said he allegedly sped away from the scene before turning onto SC 46 (May River Road) and heading west at speeds of “at least 130 mph.”
According to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, police gave up the pursuit about 5 miles from Rose Dhu Creek Plantation because the suspect was traveling too fast, but his car struck a “large tree” about a mile later.
On October 12, 2020, a Bluffton Police Department SUV was parked at Bluffton Police Headquarters.
(Drew Martin/dmartin@islandpacket.com)
The suspect allegedly fled on foot from the wrecked vehicle, where police found a “small amount” of suspected crack cocaine. Bluffton police asked the Beaufort County Bloodhound Unit to help track the man.
Police searched a “triangle” around Palmetto Bluff Road, May River Road and Stoney Creek Drive, the report said.
The search was unsuccessful and the suspect had not been found as of Thursday morning, but police knew his identity because he provided identification before fleeing the traffic stop, Moody said.
Police searched the dense woods between May River Road, Palmetto Bluff Road and Stoney Creek Drive in the early morning hours of Jan. 14, 2025, after a man fled a traffic stop and crashed his car into a tree. But no suspect was found.
(Google Earth)
