About 7:30 a.m. Thursday, a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office investigator stopped at a single-vehicle accident that had just occurred near the intersection of U.S. Highway 264 and Braddy Road between Washington and Bath.

The driver of the van involved in the accident fled the scene shortly after the investigator arrived. The investigator pursued the van and notified other deputies the driver was refusing to stop. The driver fled east on U.S. 264 into Hyde County. The driver forced several vehicles off the roadway during the incident. The van crashed with another van on the Walter B. Jones Bridge, which was under construction for improvements. Travel on the bridge was reduced to one lane because of the work. Because the bridge was under construction for improvements at the time of the crash, it had been reduced to one lane. The other van was occupied by a woman and her two grandsons.

After the crash, the suspect fled on foot and attempted to jump off the bridge. Two Beaufort County deputies grabbed the suspect before he jumped and placed him under arrest.

Troy Wayne Beacham, 44, of Windley Road, Washington, was arrested. He was treated at Beaufort County Medical Center and released before being transported to the magistrates’ office. Beacham was charged with felony flee to elude arrest, driving while impaired, having no driver’s license, reckless driving, not having insurance, displaying fictitious tags, having an open container of alcohol in the passenger area of the vehicle, resisting a public officer, driving left of center and failure to stop at a stoplight.

He was held in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $25,000 secured bond.

The N.C. Highway Patrol is expected to file additional charges against Beacham. Those charges are related to the accident near Braddy Road.

The driver of the other van was transported by EMS personnel to Pungo District Hospital, where she was admitted. Her grandsons were transported by personal vehicle to Pungo District Hospital, where they were examined and released.