Two Columbia County men were arrested Wednesday evening after a police chase.

At about 7:30 p.m., a deputy tried to stop a Ford pickup truck for a traffic law violation at the intersection of Southwest Mauldin Avenue and Southwest Wingate Street when the driver of the truck refused to stop and accelerated at a high speed, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

The deputy pursued the truck, and at one point, the driver turned off the vehicle's headlights in an attempt to evade the deputy, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The pursuit continued onto State Road 47 with driver of the truck driving into oncoming traffic, deputies said. They said several vehicles had to take evasive action to avoid being struck by the pickup.

Because of the suspect's reckless driving, the deputy chasing him was able to perform a precision immobilization technique and bring the pursuit to an end on County Road 240, deputies said. After the PIT maneuver, the suspect rammed the deputy's patrol vehicle, deputies said.

The deputy was able to block the suspect's vehicle, and a passenger in the truck then fled on foot, deputies said. The deputy arrest the driver, 24-year-old Daniel Scandizzo, without incident while deputies pursued the passenger on foot.

A deputy was eventually able to stun the passenger, 26-year-old Alfonso Pope, with a Taser when Pope refused his commands, deputies said.

Deputies said they found a loaded .357 caliber handgun in the truck, several small bags of marijuana packaged for sale, and two larger bags of marijuana. The marijuana was more than 225 grams.

In addition, seven baggies of crack cocaine and four oxycodone pills were found. Deputies also seized $460 cash.

No injuries were reported during the chase and arrests.

Pope was released in October from the Florida Department of Corrections after serving a two-year prison sentence for a previous conviction of fleeing and eluding law enforcement.

Scandizzo is currently on probation for prior narcotics convictions. Both men booked into the Columbia County Detention Facility on several charges and are being held without bail.