A Greenbank man suspected of evading police in a car chase in Clinton on Monday remains on the lam.

The man, identified by the Island County Sheriff’s Office as Mark Hendrix, is wanted on multiple warrants and for questioning concerning a series of U-Haul truck thefts that took place the previous evening. He has not been named as a suspect in the truck heists.

The manhunt began Monday after three U-Haul trucks and a car trailer were stolen and later found ditched on rural roads across the South End. A sheriff’s deputy later encountered Hendrix, who was wanted on several warrants.

“I made motions to talk and it seemed like he understood, but I could hear the gears start to grind and suddenly he took off,” Deputy Grant Walker said.

According to Lt. Evan Tingstad, Hendrix started the truck’s engine and left the parking lot “very quickly into congested traffic” before heading south on Cultus Bay Road. Walker pursued him and attempted to pull him over, but the truck failed to stop.

The chase continued for 1.2 miles. Walker said it wasn’t necessarily a high-speed chase, as the vehicles never exceeded 60 miles per hour. Yet the fleeing driver escaped. The suspect turned into a residential area in the 6500 block of Cultus Bay Road, abandoned his pickup truck and fled on foot.