A driver’s decision to run from a traffic stop Wednesday night ended up landing him in jail, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested C.J. Hamilton, 54, of 136 Flint St., Bainbridge, and charged him with fleeing/attempting to elude and failure to maintain lane after he sped away from them while they had his car pulled over on Airport Road in West Bainbridge.

Capt. Chip Nix, an investigator with the Sheriff’s Office, said he and fellow investigators Julian Crowder and Brian Donalson had stopped Hamilton’s car on Airport Road Wednesday night. Nix said he approached Hamilton, asked for and received his driver’s license and began talking with him about where he had been coming from.

Nix said some of Hamilton’s answers sounded suspicious, so the investigator asked the driver to step out of his car. At that point, Hamilton put the vehicle into drive and drove off, with deputies pursuing him closely. Hamilton took Airport Road to Dothan Road and then turned right toward downtown Bainbridge.

But when he got up to the intersection of Dothan Road and the U.S. 27/84 bypass, some other cars were stopped at a red light, blocking his path and allowing deputies to catch up with him. After handcuffing Hamilton, deputies searched his car and found a pistol, razor knife and $6,600 in cash, Nix said.

No illegal drugs were found in the car, however, deputies walked back along the route Hamilton had driven while fleeing and found a small amount of marijuana, Nix said. No charges were filed in connection with the drugs, as it could not be proven who had put it there, he said.