By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

A high-speed car chase out of Henderson County ended late Wednesday night, April 6 in Polk County followed by a manhunt of the suspect.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect has not yet been apprehended. The sheriff’s office received a report Thursday morning of a golf cart being stolen from a Hunting Country residence. The suspect drove the golf cart to the Hot Spot in Landrum and stole a vehicle there and fled the area, according to the sheriff’s office.

Law enforcement has surveillance from the Hot Spot and as of Thursday morning were trying to identify him.

The N.C. Highway Patrol got the initial call Wednesday night regarding a possible impaired driver. Officers pulled over the vehicle around 8:40 p.m., but the driver drove away when troopers approached the vehicle.

The suspect was driving a 1997 Chevy Tahoe that was reported stolen out of Canton on Tuesday, April 5, according to reports.

State troopers chased the Tahoe approximately from Henderson County into Polk County along I-26 with speeds reaching a reported 90 m.ph. Officers with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office deployed stop sticks to stop the vehicle around the 69 mile marker of I-26, just prior to the South Carolina state line.

The driver exited the vehicle and ran into the woods on foot, according to reports. Officers searched for the suspect Wednesday night with the help of a K9 unit but were unable to locate him.

This was the second chase out of Henderson County that ended in Polk County in just a week. Last Thursday morning, a chase ended in a wreck along U.S. 74 in Columbus approximately 300 yards from where officers were investigating a death. The death was later determined to be the murder of a box truck driver at the on ramp of U.S. 74 off Hwy. 108.