DUI Suspect Jumps from Moving Vehicle

CHARLESTON — Charles Driggers allegedly led a Charleston Police officer on a short high-speed chase on Glen McConnell Parkway before rolling out of his still moving truck and sliding down an overpass embankment early Sunday.

The officer pulled in behind Driggers' truck on Glen McConnell after observing it speeding and swerving down the roadway just before 2:15 a.m. Sunday and activated his lights and siren, according to a Charleston Police Department report. Rather than stopping the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Driggers, sped up.

As the driver approached the railroad overpass near Mary Ader Avenue the truck slowed down, the driver opened his door and rolled out onto the road, the report stated. He then ran toward the side of the overpass, jumpd over the railing and slid down the embankment and disappeard into the woodline.

Additional officers, including a K9 unit arrived to search for the driver, eventually locating Driggers, who the original pursuit officer identified as the driver. Inside the truck officers found a red, plastic cup full of what appeared to be beer. In the back seat they also located a leather jacket that held a plastic film canister with .7 grams of cocaine inside and a short length of straw.

Driggers was charged with DUI, habitual offender and possession of cocaine, according to the report.