Stock photo of a police light bar. Photo: Scott Rodgerson/Unsplash
Myrtle Beach police say a man with active North Carolina warrants hit three cars near South Kings Highway and Farrow Parkway on Friday, Oct. 30, fled through Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach, South Carolina, and was found in a pond behind Silver Spring Lane. The man is identified as Jacob Shores in documents WMBF obtained, which show he faces more than 15 charges. Those charges are allegations. WMBF’s reporting included no statement from Shores or an attorney, and no bond amount or court date.
This Myrtle Beach police chase was light on speed details and heavy on paperwork. The documents WMBF described list hit and run, possessing a stolen vehicle, delivering a stolen pistol, failing to stop for a blue light, fugitive from justice, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent felony.
What police records and neighbors describe
According to those documents, Myrtle Beach police stopped a Chevy Avalanche near Highway 501 and Rhoda Loop. Shores had active North Carolina warrants, including one from Union County, and a vehicle inventory turned up a pistol reported stolen in that state. The incident report, as WMBF relayed it, says he hit three cars near South Kings Highway and Farrow Parkway, with four victims in those cars, then ran through Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. Officers found the Avalanche empty on Crow Lane in the Market Common area. Shores was found behind Silver Spring Lane after running into a pond, with help from the Horry County Police Department. The reports don’t say whether the stolen-vehicle count refers to the Avalanche.
Two neighbors recorded the end of it. Ray Antonino told WMBF he saw the man run at full speed and jump in, and the video Antonino shared shows the man climbing out of the water before officers take him into custody. Mark McCracken shared a second angle with the station. Myrtle Beach police said afterward there was “no ongoing threat to the public.”
Why one stop can produce more than 15 counts
South Carolina charges each act separately, and one getaway touches several statutes. Failing to stop for a blue light falls under Section 56-5-750. As the code now reads, a first offense with no great bodily injury or death is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of at least $500 or imprisonment of up to three years, plus a driver’s license suspension of at least 30 days. The same section lists felony penalties of up to 10 years for a second offense or a high-speed pursuit, and up to 15 years when great bodily injury results. The Legislature changed those penalties in 2025 Act No. 38, effective May 12, 2026, about five and a half months before this stop. The reports don’t say which tier prosecutors used.
Leaving the scene is a separate count. For a crash that damages a car with a driver or attendant, Section 56-5-1220 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a fine of $100 to $5,000. If someone is hurt, Section 56-5-1210 applies instead, with 30 days to one year in prison and/or the same fine range for injuries short of great bodily injury. Hitting an unattended car is handled by Section 56-5-1240, which requires notifying the owner or leaving a written note. WMBF’s account doesn’t say whether anyone was injured.
Two gun statutes with different reach
The firearm count depends on which statute prosecutors chose. The handgun law, Section 16-23-30, bars anyone convicted of a crime of violence from possessing a handgun, and Section 16-23-50 makes a violation a felony punishable by up to five years and a $2,000 fine. A broader law, Section 16-23-500, covers any firearm or ammunition for anyone with a prior conviction punishable by more than a year, and it climbs with repeat offenses: up to five years the first time, five to 20 years with a five-year mandatory minimum the second time, and 10 to 30 years with a 10-year minimum the third. WMBF’s report describes the charge as possession by a person convicted of a violent felony and doesn’t give the section or the earlier conviction.
What happens next
WMBF describes the investigation as ongoing. I found no published docket or court date. The North Carolina warrants, including the Union County one, are separate from the South Carolina counts, and nothing public that I found says how the two sets of cases will be sequenced.
Pursuits are where the cost can reach people who never touched the traffic stop. Backfire News has covered a Florida pursuit that ended with a passenger’s death and a West Virginia family’s lawsuit over spike strips laid across live interstate traffic. Nothing in the Myrtle Beach reports describes injuries, and the pond ended this one with officers and a few neighbors watching.
Should South Carolina keep a separate charge for every act in a single getaway, or should one chase carry one penalty?
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