Corolla or clown car? 5 flee from crash after 100 mph police chase near Beaufort
Police embarked on a multi-mile manhunt Saturday evening after five people fled from a compact car that crashed during a high-speed police chase in the Beaufort area. The adult driver and two juveniles were caught along the Spanish Moss Trail while two other passengers got away.
A deputy began trailing the white Toyota Corolla on U.S. 21 (Trask Parkway) around 5:15 p.m. Saturday after noticing its registration decal was blocked by its license plate frame. He also recognized the car from a previous police chase in late March that was ended “due to traffic conditions,” according to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
As the Corolla gained speed and started dangerously weaving through traffic, the deputy activated his vehicle’s blue lights, the report says. The car was clocked going around 100 mph as it tried to pass another vehicle on the right shoulder, lost control and spun out into the highway’s opposite lane.
The Corolla crashed into the ditch on the other side of U.S. 21, resulting in “moderate disabling damage” to the compact car, according to the police report. Police requested a K9 team and backup officers as they saw the driver and two passengers exit the wrecked car and run north toward the Spanish Moss Trail.
A police dog led authorities through “several miles of thick, dense woods and brush” before they found the three suspects — one adult and two teenage boys — hiding in the woods near the Spanish Moss trailhead at Poppy Hill Road. Officers also discovered a Glock pistol that appeared to have been dropped in the grass nearby by one of the suspects.
The driver, identified as 22-year-old Beaufort man Theodore Lamont Frazier, was charged with failure to stop for blue lights, fleeing to evade and the possession of a 5-gram bag of suspected marijuana found inside the Corolla. He also faced two counts each of child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor because he fled from a traffic stop with the teens inside the car and “encouraged the two juveniles to flee law enforcement,” police said.
The two teenage boys, aged 16 and 17, were detained and charges were made in family court.
Using camera footage from a Burton firetruck that was near the scene of the wreck, authorities learned there were two other suspects who had fled from the Corolla but were not caught. It was unknown as of Thursday if the additional suspects had been identified.
Frazier was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital for medical clearance before being booked in jail. As the deputy who initiated the police chase arrived at the emergency room, the suspect reportedly told him twice, “I am going to kill you,” after previously making comments that he knew where the deputy lived. Frazier was charged with threatening the life of a public official, also a felony.
As of Thursday, Frazier was being held at the Beaufort County Detention Center on cash bonds totaling over $70,000.
Court records show Frazier has a considerable history of arrests in Beaufort County, including pending charges for robbery and discharging firearms into a dwelling.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 12:34 PM.
