Two men who authorities say turned U.S 176 into their own private race track ended up parked at the Union County Jail on Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Ashley Ingle, 20, 429 Pacolet St., Jonesville, and Brandon Tyler Hansen, 22, 148A Goforth Drive, Gaffney, are charged by the Union County Sheriff’s Office with racing and failure to stop for a blue light.

Ingle’s and Hansen’s race into the arms of the criminal justice system began around 2:30 p.m. when a deputy parked at the intersection of U.S. 176 and New Hope Church Road saw two vehicles traveling side by side toward Union at a high rate of speed in the southbound lanes. The deputy activated his blue light as the two vehicles passed the intersection and pursued them down the four-lane as neither vehicle would stop and both continued toward Union at a high speed.

The deputy then notified the Union Public Safety Department about the two vehicles and passed along their descriptions. The vehicles were a yellow 1994 Mitsubishi driven by Hansen and a white 2004 Acura driven by Ingle.

A public safety officer observed Hansen’s approach to Union’s city limits and stopped it at the intersection of U.S. 176 and Toney Road. Hansen was then taken into custody.

Deputies were then dispatched to the parking lot of a factory off 176 where Ingle’s car had pulled in. They found Ingle in the building and placed him under arrest.

Hansen and Ingle were transported to the jail where they were held until being released on bond later in the day.

Investigations

The folowing incidents are being investigated by the sheriff’s office:

Financial Transaction Card Theft

A Union man was forced to close his bank accout after learning that two phony credit card companies were using his debit number to withdraw money.

The victim met with a deputy at the sheriff’s office to report between Oct. 10 and Dec. 9 six withdrawals totaling $63.90 were made from his debit account without his knowledge. He said the withdrawals were made by two phony credit card companies called Club Save and Credit Diagnosis. The victim said he became aware of the false nature of the companies after he learned about the withdrawals and tried unsuccessfully to contact them. He said he then went to his bank and canceled the account.

Lt. Al Black said situations like this can occur when someone makes an online purchase. Black said when a purchase is made there is often a place on the Web site giving another company the authority to use that credit card information supposedly to provide some kind of service such as credit monitoring or buying club services. While some of these are legitimate some aren’t and in the case of criminal activity a slow drain is often made on the victim’s account.

“It may be a small amount, but you do that over a large number of transactions on a Web site then these people have scammed a lot of money,” Black said. “So read everything on the Web site checkout — take nothing for granted where your credit information is concerned.”

Vehicle Damaged

A vehicle was damaged Saturday night while its owner was traveling down S.C. 18. The victim told deputies as she was driving toward Union a vehicle got close behind her with its bright lights on. She said it was riding extremely close on her bumper and somewhere around the intersection with Sonoco Road she heard a thump on her vehicle. When she got home she noticed her back windshield had shattered.

The responding deputy reported finding a small hole in the back windshield that caused the entire window to spiderweb. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $200.

Arrests

The following persons were arrested by the sheriff’s office:

Claude Thomas Mace Jr., 42, 217 Wild Turkey Lane, Pacolet, charged Monday with giving false information to police.

Steven Lee Dabbs, 20, 115 Baileytown Road, Union, charged Friday with larceny.

Dorothy Ann Venning, 58, 976 John Hart Road, Jonesville, charged Monday with disorderly conduct.

Angela Denise Brannon, 32, 1208 Linersville Road, Lot 7, Union, charged Monday with two counts of fraudulent check.

Landon Blaine Turner, 22, 554 Thornridge Road, Union, charged Tuesday with petit larceny.

The following persons were arrested by the public safety department:

Ricky Lee White, 17, 206 Sulphur Springs Road, Pauline, charged Friday with shoplifting.

Jonathan Matthew Long, 29, 1418 Main St., Buffalo, charged Friday with malicious damage to property.

Julie Dianne Goode, 57, 402 South Mountain St., Union, charged Sunday with shoplifting.

Christopher Deauntray Gist, 17, 271 Meansville Road, Apt. E6, Union, charged Sunday with no driver’s license and no seatbelt.

A 16-year-old juvenile charged Thursday wiith shoplifting.

Candice Renee Lancaster, 38, 892 John Hart Road, Jonesville, charged Monday with shoplifting.

Ronald Eugene Palmer, 37, 101 Washington St., Union, charged Tuesday with simple possession of marijuana and trespassing after notice.

Tracy Eugene Gann, 44, 115A Robin Hood Circle, Union, charged with trespassing after notice.