A suspect accused of stealing over $5,000 worth of lumber was caught on video tossing plywood from the back of a moving van while leading South Carolina deputies on a 90-minute chase that eventually ended in North Carolina last week.
The incident happened Wednesday as York County sheriff's deputies spotted two people loading pieces of plywood at a construction site in Rock Hill into a U-Haul van, WCNC-TV reports. When the deputies approached the duo, they quickly fled the scene, with authorities in pursuit.
The chase continued for 90 minutes, and during that time, one suspect began launching plywood from the van at the deputies. Authorities finally were able to apprehend one of the suspects—Willie Bailey, 63—after the chase ended at a Gaston County apartment complex.
Fifty plywood sheets and several hardware boxes were recovered by deputies, and Bailey was charged with first-degree assault and battery, grand larceny and criminal conspiracy. The van's driver escaped deputies and is still on the loose.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
The sheriff's office has been seeing a sharp increase in lumber thefts as costs continue to skyrocket. As a way to combat the problem, Sheriff Kevin Tolson has deputies keeping watch over construction sites, a procedure that led to the suspects being caught in the act.
“There was a lot of lumber on site and they had a U-Haul truck, so they could have taken a lot more, but thankfully the sheriff’s department was here," the construction manager, Jeff Hawkins, told WCNC.
