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The pickup fishtails as its driver tries to avoid a collision. The Charger reaches 133 mph and passes police cruisers.
After the sedan exits the interstate, it speeds into oncoming traffic and passes more vehicles. It swerves around traffic on a curve. More police cruisers are left in its wake.
Twenty-eight minutes later, the Dodge comes to a screeching halt behind a black pickup on Steed Creek Road in the Francis Marion National Forest.
The car's driver: a lieutenant from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.
The most recent video of last week's high-speed chase renews questions about how fast is too fast for law enforcement officers pursuing suspects. Sheriff Al Cannon, who started the pursuit in his unmarked Chevrolet Suburban, has insisted that the policy dictating the reasons for continuing a chase and the tactics for bringing one to an end were followed.
The sheriff, however, has drawn criticism for turning the chase into a personal matter and further endangering the public, and The Post and Courier's review of the policy does show some deviations in the deputies' approach to the chase.
Nationally, pursuing suspects at high speeds has become a perennial issue.
About 360 people are killed each year in chases, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Florence McCants, spokeswoman for the state Criminal Justice Academy, said that it's easy for motorists not to see or hear speeding police car and that responding officers need to approach upcoming traffic cautiously.
"You always want to travel in a safe and prudent manner," she said. "You want to get there fast, but you don't want to cause an accident in getting there."
In his unmarked Dodge, Lt. Ransom Williams traveled about 35 miles, hit speeds of 133 mph and crossed into oncoming lanes six times in joining the pursuit Jan. 30, according to the video.
Starting at Leeds Avenue in North Charleston, Williams was one of the farthest from the pursuit when it began. But he had taken control of the chase and was the first to stop behind Timothy Shawn McManus' black Dodge Ram after deputies shot out its tires.
Williams pulled McManus from the pickup and punched him about five times. A police dog then bit McManus for 23 seconds.
McManus, 31, of Mount Pleasant remained jailed this week on three misdemeanor charges.
When asked to interview Williams, the Sheriff's Office referred to the State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating the chase. SLED did not return calls.
The pursuit policy, a copy of which was obtained Monday, prohibits undercover vehicles from participating in a chase "except in situations where failure to act would create unreasonable risks of serious injury." As the pursuit ended, about a dozen marked patrol cars arrived behind Williams.
The policy also says deputies shouldn't shoot at a moving vehicle "except as the ultimate measure of self-defense or the defense of another when the suspect is using deadly force by any means."
Cannon, in a news conference last week, said McManus was threatening motorists' lives by driving erratically. The sheriff said he had the "maturity and judgment" to decide whether to continue the pursuit.
Cannon came under fire after he admitted to slapping McManus as he sat handcuffed in a sheriff's cruiser. Deputies also have been criticized for allowing a dog to bite McManus after he appeared to be subdued on the ground.
Members of the public have been largely supportive of the sheriff, repeating his view that McManus needed to be stopped.
But some critics have organized a petition calling for his resignation. The effort, posted on the website change.org, had gathered about 50 signatures by Monday night.
The Sheriff's Office declined to comment.
McManus' defense attorney, David Johnson of Charleston, said his client suffered bruising from his shoulder to his elbow.
"I've only seen what everybody else has seen, but it certainly looks to me like they made some errors," Johnson said of the video. "I certainly think it might have become personal for the sheriff at some point."
