An 18-year-old James Island man is facing charges after North Charleston police say he led officers on a pursuit that ended with his car slamming into another vehicle, leaving four people hurt. Malakhi Washington was taken into custody following the crash near Dorchester Road last Saturday, after allegedly refusing to stop for an officer's blue lights and siren.
According to Live 5 News, North Charleston police had been receiving reports of several vehicles doing burnouts and driving recklessly in the Dorchester Terrace community before the chase began. Officers were dispatched to the intersection of Martha Drive and Busch Drive on October 17, where an officer reportedly spotted a vehicle being driven recklessly and attempted to pull it over.
Washington did not stop. Instead, the station reports he continued onto Dorchester Road and drove into the median near Brentwood Plaza while attempting to evade the officer. The pursuit ended when he struck a curb while trying to maneuver around another vehicle, lost control of his car, and collided with it.
Two Vehicles Trapped, Four Taken to the Hospital
The impact was severe enough to force the other car off Dorchester Road and onto an access road, per the same account. Washington and his passenger became entrapped inside their own vehicle, though the report notes the driver and passenger of the other car were not trapped inside theirs. Four people total were transported to a hospital for treatment.
Washington was charged with failure to stop for blue lights and sirens and high-speed driving resulting in injuries, the article notes. After being released from the hospital, he was taken to the Al Cannon Detention Center.
Part of a Pattern on Local Roads
This is not the first pursuit to rattle the North Charleston area in recent months. In July, two men were arrested and charged following a separate North Charleston police pursuit, with the passenger cited for having an open container of beer, according to Live 5 News. In August, a Charleston County man was arrested after allegedly leading police on a vehicle pursuit and failing to stop for blue lights, as reported by WCIV ABC News 4.
Some chases in the region have ended far more tragically. A police pursuit through downtown Charleston in April 2025 ended in a crash that killed one person and injured seven others, according to The Post and Courier. And back in November 2024, a North Charleston man was arrested after allegedly leading officers on a 17-minute chase that ended with him found in his grandmother's bed, according to WCIV ABC News 4, which also reported he was charged with failure to stop for blue lights and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
State-level data suggest crashes remain a relatively uncommon outcome of police pursuits overall, according to a South Carolina Highway Patrol report on file with the South Carolina State Library. The same report found that 43% of pursuits statewide occurred between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m., the window during which Saturday's chase in North Charleston unfolded.
No further details on the condition of the four people hospitalized have been released. It remains unclear whether additional charges are pending against Washington as the investigation continues.
