Star Wars’ ‘Anakin Skywalker’ charged in high-speed chase

WALTERBORO, South Carolina, United States — A former child actor who starred in one of the “Star Wars” movie sequels faces charges after leading South Carolina deputies on a high-speed chase.

Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday arrested a 26-year-old man they confirmed through a former talent agent was Jake Lloyd, who played a young Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 movie “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” Sgt. Kyle Strickland said Sunday.

The man gave his name as Jake Broadbent, Strickland said. The man’s birthdate matched the actors’ listed by movie database IMDB.com and a hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado, where Lloyd was born.

The man was charged with failing to stop for officers and reckless driving after hitting speeds over 160 kph, Strickland said.

Deputies in coastal Charleston County initially tried to stop the fleeing vehicle early Wednesday afternoon, but quit chasing after the man drove into neighboring Colleton County, Sheriff’s Office Major Eric Watson said Sunday.

The chase lasted for more than 40 km before Lloyd drove off Interstate 95, plowed through a fence, and continued speeding along a parallel frontage road, authorities said. The road ended at a dead end, but the vehicle kept going into a wooded area before it hit several small trees and stopped.

The man had not posted bond and remained in jail Sunday, Strickland said.

Lloyd said in a 2012 interview that the role he performed when he was 10 years old made his youth hellish because he was bullied by other children. His last acting credit was in 2005, according to IMDB.com.