MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The owner of a Myrtle Beach restaurant where two men were shot and killed in October 2020 was arrested Monday on a series of drug and other charges.

Gabe Jackson, 44, who owns Allen’s Food Basket, remains in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on charges of manufacturing or possessing drugs with intent to deliver; trafficking in cocaine; simple possession of marijuana; driving with a suspended license and two counts of failure to appear.

Jackson was denied bond on the drug charges, according to online jail records. He also was given a ticket for failure to stop for a blue light, according to Myrtle Beach officials.

Jackson, who testified during a December 2022 trial for two men acquitted in the shooting that he also was wounded in the incident, was arrested after fleeing from a Myrtle Beach police officer who recognized his 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche and knew that he had a suspended driver’s license, according to a police report.

The pursuit began at about 10 a.m. Monday in the area of Canal Street and Dennison Avenue, the report said. It continued through the parking lot of Allen’s Food Basket and then toward 8th Avenue North.

As officers continued chasing the vehicle between shopping centers in the area, the report said Jackson was seen throwing a clear plastic bag over the hood into a lot on Highway 501. Officers later recovered the bag and determined that it contained cocaine.

Officers lost sight of the vehicle but saw it again a short time later as it went behind a church on a dead end on the 1300 block of Dennison Avenue, the report said. An officer then saw Jackson get out of the car after parking it in a vacant lot near a church and was able to arrest him without further incident.

While searching the vehicle, the police report said officers found a plastic bag containing a small amount of marijuana in a cup holder.

* * *