One man is in custody and another man is on the loose after selling heroin to an undercover officer in Jemison and leading police on a chase.

Edward Adonnis Jones, 26, of Birmingham was arrested Thursday and charged with illegal distribution of a controlled substance, according to Lt. Shane Lockhart with the Chilton County Sheriff’s Department.

More charges could be forthcoming, Lockhart said, after the unusual circumstances that preceded Jones’ arrest.

Sheriff’s officers were interviewing a local man Thursday morning about thefts in Chilton County, when it became clear that the local suspect was regularly purchasing heroin from an out-of-towner, Lockhart said.

“That’s not a drug you see around here too much,” he said.

The local suspect gave investigators Jones’ name and phone number as his dealer. An officer then called Jones under a guise to set up a drug deal.

Jones and a driver traveled to the Jack’s off Interstate 65 Exit 219 in Jemison and made a transaction with an undercover officer in the restroom about 3 p.m. on Monday.

“Once he arrived at Jack’s, he called and said, ‘Meet me in the bathroom,’” Lockhart said.

After the swap and as officers attempted to block in the two suspects’ vehicle, Jones got in and the driver struck a patrol car before fleeing north on I-65.

Officers pursued the vehicle, which wrecked near the 224-mile marker.

The suspects then fled on foot. Jones was apprehended, but the driver escaped into a wooded area. Lockhart said law enforcement officers pursued the second suspect on foot for about three hours and called in the help of a K-9 tracking team.

Lockhart said the investigation is ongoing.

“We do expect an arrest,” he said.