A woman's Tinder date in Charleston County turned into a 2 a.m. emergency call after she told deputies her date was refusing to let her leave her own car. What followed was a chase that stretched along Maybank Highway and ended near the Ashley River Memorial Bridge, when the fleeing driver's car collided with a Charleston County Sheriff's Office cruiser.
According to deputies, the woman called 911 just after 2 a.m. Sunday to report that her date would not let her out of the vehicle. Deputies located 26-year-old Michael James Voorhees of Goose Creek driving the woman's car near Leopold Street in Charleston, with the victim still inside, as reported by WYFF 4. Voorhees eventually let the woman exit the car in a nearby neighborhood before speeding off toward Maybank Highway, according to deputies.
Chase Ends Near Downtown Charleston
Deputies pursued Voorhees as he fled, deploying tire-deflation devices known as stop-sticks multiple times along the roadway, per the Post and Courier. The pursuit ended near the Ashley River Memorial Bridge as Voorhees entered downtown Charleston. His vehicle collided with a sheriff's office cruiser and came to a stop, according to deputies.
Voorhees was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina for medical clearance before being transferred for jail booking, the same report notes. No additional injuries were reported. He was ultimately booked into the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center.
Multiple Felony Charges Filed
Voorhees faces a kidnapping charge, along with possession, sale, or disposal of a stolen vehicle valued at more than $10,000, hit and run with property damage, assault on a police officer while resisting arrest, and failure to stop for blue lights. The stolen vehicle charge stems directly from Voorhees fleeing in the victim's own car after letting her exit, the Post and Courier's reporting indicates.
Under South Carolina Code § 16-3-910, kidnapping is a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and state law establishes that unlawful detention of any duration satisfies the legal threshold — meaning the charge applies immediately upon unlawful restraint regardless of how long the victim was held inside her car, according to CDV Lawyer. Separately, state law under Section 16-21-80 classifies possessing a stolen vehicle worth $10,000 or more as a felony carrying up to 10 years in prison, per Chambers Law. Failing to stop for a law enforcement vehicle signaling with blue lights or sirens carries 90 days to three years in prison and a mandatory license suspension for a first offense under Section 56-5-750, according to attorney Truslow's analysis of the statute.
A Broader Pattern of Dating App Risks
Voorhees graduated from Ashley Ridge High School in 2018 and is from Goose Creek. It remains unclear whether bond has been set at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, what court dates are scheduled, or whether he has a prior criminal record in South Carolina, per the Post and Courier's reporting.
The case lands amid wider scrutiny of dating app safety. A GRASS article citing FTC data says $1.16 billion was lost to romance scams in just nine months of 2025, while Pew Research surveys found 46 percent of U.S. adults consider online dating platforms unsafe.
