Multi-county police chase ends after fiery crash in Richland County, deputies say
A multi-county police chase ended in Richland County Wednesday night after a suspect carrying methamphetamine crashed into a tree and his car caught fire, according to a statement from the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.
Adam Wayne Lyles, 32, of Eastover, was initially pulled over in Lugoff for a faulty headlight, but after a deputy asked for his license, he sped off, according to the statement.
At about 10 p.m., the deputy pulled over Lyles’s Honda Accord on Highway 601 near U.S. 1, according to the statement. The deputy was initially only going to give Lyles a warning ticket, but after he asked for a driver’s license, Lyles became visibly nervous.
Lyles told the deputy that he didn’t have a license and that he was not going to jail, according to the statement. He said that the deputy would have to shoot him in order to arrest him.
On the brink of tears, Lyles sped off down U.S. 601, according to the statement. After a few miles, he moved onto U.S. 378 in Richland County before taking several secondary roads.
Another deputy soon joined the chase, according to the statement. Lyles crashed his car into a tree, and the vehicle caught fire and began to burn.
Running away on foot, Lyles tried to evade deputies, but after a brief “physical confrontation,” he was arrested, according to the statement. Once they had Lyles in custody, the deputies found meth in the suspect’s shirt pocket.
“Once again, a motorist escalates a simple ticket into a much more serious and dangerous offense,” Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews said in a statement. “It’s no surprise that drugs were somehow involved ... smh (shaking my head.)”
Lyles was taken to a local hospital to be treated for wounds he sustained in the crash, according to the statement. He was later taken to the Kershaw County Detention Center.
Deputies found that Lyles had a history of run-ins with law enforcement, according to the statement. He previously faced charges of distribution, sale, manufacturing or possession with the intent to distribute drugs near a school, three charges of manufacturing, possession with intent to distribute drugs and driving without a license.
