LUMBERTON — A fender-bender Saturday afternoon turned into a 30-minute, two-county “follow” that ended with a second wreck, a 15-minute manhunt and a Clarkton man charged with six traffic violations.

The state Highway Patrol arrested Jerry Bartley, 49, on charges of driving while intoxicated, driving with a revoked license, driving carelessly and recklessly, driving with an open container, hit-and-run, and failure to reduce speed, Trooper R.M. Hunt said.

The Highway Patrol got an assist from Patrick and Jennifer Branch, who followed Bartley’s 2001 Chevy Blazer after it struck their 2006 Chevy hatchback, basically acting as an eye for the Highway Patrol. Hunt emphasized that it was not a “chase.”

“It was a pretty good follow,” Hunt said.

The Branches followed Bartley through Robeson County to the far border of Columbus County and back again. The follow began after his vehicle rear-ended the Branch’s vehicle on N.C. 41 West, near Morris Lane, Hunt said.

Hunt said that at about 1:25 p.m. Saturday, Bartley’s vehicle hit the Branch car hard enough to knock the fan belt off the engine. He said Bartley made a U-turn, speeding eastbound on N.C. 41.

Jennifer Branch said that she and her husband, in the car with their 1-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, called the Highway Patrol, and the dispatcher told them “not to let the car out of our sight,” she said.

She said they followed Bartley at about 65 mph, and she estimated he was going about 95 mph.

“He stayed within our sight the whole time,” she said. “We never let him more than a mile ahead of us.”

When the follow hit Cemetery Church Road at the far border of Columbus County, Bartley turned onto U.S. 242 toward Norman and Evergreen, Hunt said.

Sgt. Stewart Mitchell of Columbus County Highway Patrol said he joined the follow but didn’t catch up with it until Orrum, when he saw Bartley’s car overturn seven times after it collided with a ditch on Progressive Farm Road.

Mitchell said Bartley appeared uninjured when he ran out of the car toward an abandoned mobile home on Bloomingdale Road. Law enforcement officers found Bartley a short time later hiding under the mobile home.

“I saw grass that had been pushed down under the trailer,” Hunt said. “It was real dark, and when we shined a light under the trailer, we saw him under there and told him to come out.”

Bartley was arrested without incident, though “he was very intoxicated,” Hunt said.

Hunt said Bartley was taken to the Robeson County jail, where he refused a Breathalyzer test. Hunt said during the arrest, troopers noted that Bartley was drinking Busch beer, but he corrected them, saying he was drinking Bud Light.

Bartley is being held under $2,000 secure bond.

The Blazer Bartley was driving belongs to a female friend of his, and was totaled when it overturned, Hunt said. He assessed damage to the Branch vehicle at $2,500 to the hatchback door and rear bumper.