A Hilton Head car is stolen. A chase and crash followed. Then the fire started.

A Hilton Head vehicle was extensively damaged Tuesday after it was stolen, involved in a police chase and crashed before catching fire in Hardeeville, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The vehicle was reported stolen around 11:30 p.m. Monday at a residence on Hickory Lane after the owner said her husband noticed it was missing with her purse inside. The woman said she had left her vehicle unlocked and was unsure if she had also left the keys inside.

As a deputy entered the vehicle’s information into a stolen vehicle database, he learned the car was currently involved in a chase in Hardeeville.

Jasper County dispatch told the deputy that the driver of the vehicle refused to pull over during a traffic stop and that the vehicle was chased until it was involved in a collision at the intersection of Independence Boulevard and S.C. Route 17, the report said. After the vehicle crashed, it caught fire.

When the Beaufort deputy arrived at the scene, a Hardeeville Police Department officer told him that there were no suspects at the scene

The deputy spoke with the owner, who said it had “sustained severe damage throughout the interior and exterior,” the report said.

Her purse, she said, was not inside.

No arrest was mentioned in the report and a deputy wrote that the vehicle could not be processed for DNA or fingerprints at the time due to the damage.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 10:48 AM with the headline "A Hilton Head car is stolen. A chase and crash followed. Then the fire started.."