Sumter deputies catch ‘violent offender’ after Interstate 95 chase, truck fire

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office caught a violent offender out of Texas on Interstate 95 Thursday morning.

The sheriff’s office said they tried to stopped a truck for traveling at 94 mph on the interstate. The driver didn’t stop, and the deputy began to chase the driver for about two and a half miles.

Then, the truck’s engine “burst into flames while spraying fuel on the deputy’s car,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The driver, which was later identified by deputies as Donald Edward Reed, crashed into a fence line near the interstate, the sheriff’s office said.

Another deputy arrived and saw the suspect running along the fence line, the sheriff’s office said. When he was spotted, he ran across the interstate and into the woods.

More deputies, including a team of K-9 deputies, arrived to search for Reed, the sheriff’s office said.

“K-9 deputy Tara tracked the suspect and found Donald Edward Reed, hiding in a ditch, where he was taken into custody and placed under arrest,” a news release from the office said.

Reed stole the truck from a resident out in Colleton County. Reed was also labeled as a “violent offender and a threat to law enforcement,” according to the sheriff’s office.

After being evaluated at a local hospital, he was transported to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center. He is being held for the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, the news release said.

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