Chase yields arrest and suspected drugs

A chase during the 4 o’clock hour of yesterday morning near Seneca yielded an arrest and the discovery of what officers suspect are illegal drugs. Sheriff’s officers say the object of their chase, a Ford truck with no tag light, reached speeds of 60 miles an hour in the wrong lane of Return Church Road. But at Return Church Road and Steve Nix Road, the driver gave up. Oconee Sheriff’s officers charged Walhalla resident Derek Lloyd Smith with eight drug, theft and traffic offenses. During the chase, officers say they saw something thrown from the truck. Later Deputy Murphy reported the recovery at a Return Church Road bridge of blue and yellow pills and a bag of white crystal-like substance weighing 29 grams.