Clarendon County Sheriff's deputies were involved Thursday in a chase on Interstate 95 that both began and ended in Orangeburg County, just over the Lake Marion Bridge.
Sheriff Randy Garrett said Thursday afternoon that 34-year-old Daniel Brooks Ward was initially reported to be driving up Interstate 95, having allegedly kidnapped a Summerville woman and leading Berkeley County deputies on an Interstate chase.
"He made it to the 113 northbound lane in Clarendon County, cut across the grass median and then headed back southbound," Garrett said. "He got to the 98 mile-marker in Santee, and there was already a wreck there that had stopped traffic. That's when he got as far as he could and began shooting at deputies."
Garrett said none of his deputies were injured in the incident. Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Leiws said that Ward is being treated at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia for a gunshot wound.
"We're not sure if a deputy got him or he shot himself," said Garrett.
According to a SLED background search, Ward has multiple pending charges of domestic violence against the woman who he allegedly kidnapped Wednesday night. Garrett said the woman was actually on the phone with the solicitor handling her case when Ward allegedly kidnapped her at gunpoint.
"In a way, she was blessed to be on the phone with the solicitor," Garrett said. "Had he not heard what was going on, this could have ended very differently."
Lewis said the situation began when Ward's wife was sitting in a car on the phone with a prosecutor talking about Ward's failure to show up for a bond revocation hearing Thursday morning. At some point while she was on the phone, the sheriff says Ward, who may have been hiding in the trunk, got inside her car, pulled a gun, got into the driver's seat and drove off with her inside. Lewis said the solicitor called 911.
Lewis said that Ward will be charged with four counts of attempted murder; kidnapping; failure to stop for a blue light; violating an order of protection; and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
