Driver fleeing police crashes and dies in rural Berkeley County
A man fleeing police wrecked and died in rural Berkeley County today.
St. Stephen police were chasing a pickup truck when the driver went off Bull Head Road A near Bonneau and hit a tree about 5:30 p.m., Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury said. Ronald Smith, 53, of Bonneau, was pronounced dead at the scene, Salisbury said.
Bullhead Road A comes off Greentown Road in the Francis Marion National Forest.
Police Chief John Waters said Smith was a suspect in a shoplifting incident. Waters said Smith tried to run over one officer and tried to force another officer off the road twice before he crashed.
Smith was driving a 1995 GMC Sonoma and not wearing a seat belt, according to the Highway Patrol.
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