Charges pending on Spartanburg County couple

What began as a argument at the Vgo (formerly the Texaco) in Columbus with a female driver allegedly hitting her male passenger with the car twice,

ended in a crash following a high speed chase through Columbus and Tryon and across the South Carolina line.

A Polk County Sheriff’s Officer was at the convenience store around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 1 and said he saw the woman striking the man with the vehicle. After the man got back into the vehicle, the officer started a pursuit that included speeds of 105 mph through Columbus, according to the sheriff’s office.

The chase involved officers with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus Police Department, the N.C. Highway Patrol and the Tryon Police Department. Fire departments from Tryon and Landrum as well as the Landrum Rescue Squad and Spartanburg EMS responded to the scene following the rollover.

Chief deputy Mike Wheeler with the sheriff’s office said the chase went from Columbus, down Houston and Skyuka Roads, back through Columbus, then onto Lynn Road (Hwy. 108) into Tryon and over the South Carolina line. The chase ended at the intersection of Greenwood Road and Fox Run Lane near Landrum when the reported stolen 2012 Chrysler the suspects were driving flipped and wrecked, Wheeler said.

Multiple charges are currently pending on the driver, Melissa Ann Crane, 29, of 1210 Greenfern Drive,  Greenville, S.C., and the passenger, Bradley Garrison Cox, 33, of 8 E. Blue Ridge Drive, Greenville, S.C.

Crane had an outstanding warrant for her arrest out of Spartanburg County for a probation violation and Cox had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for auto theft, according to sheriff’s office reports. The pending warrant against Cox was for a different vehicle than the alleged stolen Chrysler the two were driving on Wednesday, officers said.

Both suspects were taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for treatment following the wreck. They will first be processed by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office on the warrants then additional charges out of Polk County will be issued. Charges will include at least fleeing to elude arrest and property damage from Crane damaging a bench and fence while allegedly striking Cox with the vehicle at the Texaco, officers said.