A Union man who wouldn’t stop his car for officers at a traffic checkpoint was arrested Wednesday.

Jeremy Tywon Beatty, 21, of 222 Pinetree Lane was charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with leaving a vehicle unattended with the engine running and driving without a license. He has been released on bond from the Union County Jail.

Lakisha Hughes, 30, of 239 Buffalo St., was arrested Tuesday in the case. She was charged with permitting an unauthorized person to drive.

The incident occurred early Sunday morning in the Arthur Boulevard/ Calhoun Street area when officers were looking for two men who had fled a traffic stop and left behind a stolen truck, trailer and Bobcat.

Sheriff David Taylor told officers to stop all cars coming into the area in case the two used a cell phone to call for a ride.

Sgt. Wendy Childers saw a gray Nissan Maxima driving west on Calhoun Street. She approached the vehicle. The driver, identified as Beatty, partially rolled down the window. When he was asked to give identifying information, he sped away. Officers pursued and found the abandoned vehicle on Ned’s Place with the keys in the ignition, the engine running and the driver’s door open.

Officers contacted Ms. Hughes, the owner of the car, and she said the vehicle had not been stolen, she had let Beatty borrow it to go to a party in the Lakewood area. After viewing a photo of Beatty, Childers identified him as the driver of the car

Taylor said Beatty hindered the investigation into the truck theft because officers thought he might be involved.

Brandon James White, 24, of 609 Garvin Lake Road, Gaffney, was arrested in connection with the theft of the truck. He was taken into custody about three hours after he jumped out of the truck. Officers are still looking for his accomplice. White was charged with giving false information to police, failure to stop for a blue light, driving under suspension, third offense; being an habitual traffic offender; two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and having no tail lamps on the trailer he was pulling.

White is being held in the Union County Jail. His bond has been denied.

Theft damage estimated

Authorities estimate that stolen equipment and resulting damage at a warehouse owned by BMC Manufacturing amounts to around $10,000.

Deputies initially were called to the warehouse on 100 Industrial Park Drive Wednesday morning. A worker reported to Deputy Jeff Wright that large amounts of copper wire and leads were taken from the building with a lot of equipment damaged. Damage to an air conditioning unit was estimated at $7,000. Copper wire and parts taken from different parts of the building was estimated at $3,000.

Deputies and investigators saw a place at the rear of the property where someone was entering through the fence. The place in the fence was reached by driving to the back of the ballpark next to the building.

A few hours after leaving the warehouse. a motion alarm was detected. Officers returning saw a bucket of copper wire being pushed out of a partly open rolling shop door. Deputies were unable to see the person pushing the bucket, and when they arrived at the door he ran into the building.

Deputies, city officers and investigators set up a perimeter and searched the building several times but were unable to locate anyone.

A car parked behind the dugout of the ball park was impounded.

Thefts

Wednesday, a victim on 151 Bailey Road told Sgt. Wendy Childers she allowed three people to come into her home and demonstrate a Kirby vacuum cleaner. An hour after they left, she noticed a bottle of medication was missing from his kitchen cabinet.

The victim said the people were a white man, a black man and a white woman and they were traveling in a gold mini van.

On 107 Brandon St., a victim told Cpl. Scott Farr Thursday morning that someone went into his 2002 Ford Windstar van and took an Audio Technica wireless microphone, a mixer, two DVD movies and medication. The items stolen are worth $401.