Source The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
CHESTER, SC—Chester sheriff's deputies arrested a man for trafficking fentanyl Thursday after a chase where law enforcement video shows the suspect's truck flipped up on its front end at the end of the pursuit, officials said.
Eric Bernard Jones, 51, is charged with trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute drugs, failure to stop for blue lights and driving with a suspended license, according to Chester County jail records and a statement from the Chester County Sheriff's Office.
The pursuit that reached 85 mph happened after 6:30 a.m., officials said. It went across town from the J.A. Cochran Bypass to Ashford Road, according to officials and video released on the sheriff's office Facebook.
Officers made a traffic stop on Jones close to Chester High School, officials said. The video shows Jones talking to deputies before closing the driver's door and driving away.
Officers followed Jones to nearby Ashford Road, where the truck went off the side of the road and flipped up before coming to rest on its tires, the video shows. The released video of just over one minute includes clips from police dash cam and body cameras, sheriff's office spokesperson Londa Pringle said.
Law enforcement searched the truck and seized around 112 grams of drugs believed to be fentanyl, and approximately 56 grams of a substance believed to be meth, the sheriff's office said in the statement. The sheriff's office said $4,373 in cash and other pills were also seized.
In a statement, Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey said the amount of fentanyl seized converts to about 56,000 potentially deadly doses. That's nearly double the population of the rural South Carolina county.
"This is not just statistics; it's about the lives of families, friends, and neighbors that we are working tirelessly to protect from this deadly threat," Dorsey said.
Jones was taken to a hospital for treatment after the wreck, then taken to the Chester County jail, where he remains without bond, the sheriff statement said.
Fentanyl, meth laws and dangers
A trafficking law for fentanyl in South Carolina went into effect in 2023. Before the law took effect, fentanyl cases were prosecuted under a lesser charge.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA). The DEA says fentanyl is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive, and lethal.
Meth is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
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