The driver of a stolen vehicle ran from a North Carolina Highway Patrolman Monday afternoon after wrecking the vehicle in a residential yard on Snug Harbor Road.

Sheriff Eric Tilley said Trooper J. Bray attempted to stop the white Jeep Cherokee for speeding around 3 p.m. while traveling northbound on U.S. 17. Trooper Bray followed the vehicle which turned off Hwy. 17 onto Snug Harbor Road.

Tilley said once the vehicle turned onto Snug Harbor Road, it sped up, turned right, skidded on wet grass in a residential yard and crashed into a tree. The black male driving the vehicle jumped from the vehicle and ran, said Tilley.

Tilley and other deputies responded to assist Trooper Bray. A tracking dog from the Chowan County Sheriff’s Department was called in and tracked the trail across Hwy. 17 into the Bear Swamp side of the roadway before losing the scent.

Captain Tim Hickman with the Edenton Police Department said the vehicle was stolen from the 500-block of South Broad Street behind the Albemarle Bank and Trust building. The vehicle is registered to Kermit Layton, Jr., also of Edenton. Capt. Hickman said the owner last saw the vehicle that morning between 9 a.m. and noon.

“Apparently, no one realized the vehicle had been stolen until the trooper pulled it and it wrecked down there,” he added.

As of Tuesday morning, no arrest had been made. Investigation is continuing.