SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – A man is in jail after law enforcement officials said he led them on a chase through Spartanburg, striking a Spartanburg police vehicle in the process.
According to a report from Spartanburg Police Department, at around 3:10 p.m. Saturday an officer responded to a call for assistance from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office regarding an alert after a box truck which had been reported stolen from Union County was spotted by a FLOCK camera.
Reports said a Spartanburg County deputy located the stolen truck at the Cook Out restaurant on East Main Street and began to follow it while awaiting assistance from Spartanburg police.
When an officer arrived in the area with his blue lights on, the stolen truck reportedly began to speed up and turned onto Webber Road. The report states the deputy and officers chased the truck to the intersection of Sloans Grove Road and Clifton Glendale Road, where the sheriff’s office said it and two passengers got out of the truck.
While the truck was stopped, a city officer attempted to pull his K9 truck in front of it to prevent the driver from leaving the scene.
The sheriff’s office said the driver of the stolen truck intentionally ran into the K9 truck, pushing it down Clifton Glendale Road until it was able to turn the K9 around.
According to the police report, the officer and a K9 unit who was also in the vehicle were uninjured, though the officer did was unable to continue the pursuit and later went to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for evaluation.
The sheriff’s office said deputies chased the truck until it attempted to drive over a downed power line and wrecked into a ditch. The driver, later identified as Matthew Scott Roberson, reportedly tried to flee on foot, but was caught by deputies and arrested.
He was booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center on multiple charges, including a blue light violation, driving under suspension, assault and battery, malicious injury to property and receiving stolen goods.
According to jail records he was given no bond.
