A high-speed chase that began Saturday in Liberty County ended in Long County, with the pursued driver suffering injuries. 

According to Georgia State Patrol Sgt. John Snipe, shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputies began chasing a white Chevrolet Astro work van near Groover Road.

The chase went over the county line, and units from the Long County Sheriff’s Office became involved. The trooper said the van was traveling west on Highway 196 toward Tattnall County.

Snipe said Liberty County Sgt. Gary Eason hit the van in its rear to stop it. The van crossed the road, hit a ditch and became airborne, flying over the driveway and coming to rest on its side and colliding into a mailbox. 

Ludowici/Long County Fire Department Assistant Chief Shawn Smith said that upon their arrival, the van’s driver was out of the vehicle with a large cut on his head, several other minor scratches and a metal prong in his back, from apparently being Tazed. He said the driver was a middle-aged Hispanic male who, from all indications, did not speak English.

Neither Snipe nor Smith knew the name of the driver or his condition, but said he was transported by ambulance to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. It also was not immediately known why the driver was being chased.

Though Eason’s Chevrolet Caprice was unable to be driven and had to be towed from the scene, he had no apparent injuries.