JEROME — What began as a routine call about a stolen box truck turned into an 18-mile high-speed pursuit, a crash in a cornfield and a six-hour manhunt across Jerome County before a Texas man finally surrendered to Idaho State Police.

It started at 8:10 a.m. Monday when the Caldwell Police Department alerted Idaho State Police that a stolen 2017 GMC box truck — tracked in real time by a GPS device — had turned up in the Jerome area. Troopers raced to close in, guided by updates from Caldwell police as the truck’s location shifted.

When troopers finally located the vehicle and tried to pull it over, the driver had other plans. He hit the gas and refused to stop, kicking off an 18-mile pursuit down Jerome County roads, state police said.

It wasn’t a slow-speed standoff. According to state police, the driver drove recklessly throughout the chase, at one point trying to ram an ISP patrol vehicle head-on. Troopers deployed tire deflation devices to try to stop him — he kept driving anyway.

The chase finally ended when the truck ran off the roadway and crashed in a cornfield.

But the driver wasn’t done. He bailed out of the wrecked truck and bolted on foot into the fields, forcing law enforcement to seal off the area and launch a coordinated ground search for the suspect, state police said.

At some point during the search, the suspect emerged from hiding, approached a nearby home and made contact with the homeowner. The homeowner called police and as a trooper closed in to make the arrest, the man ran again — but this time he didn’t get far.

He surrendered without incident a short time later and no force was needed to take him into custody, state police said.

The suspect — a 33-year-old Texas man — was not injured in the crash but was taken to a local hospital as a precaution for medical evaluation. He’s expected to be booked into the Jerome County Jail once he’s released from the hospital.

He faces a long list of charges: felony eluding, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, grand theft and resisting and obstructing — with more charges possible as the investigation continues. His name hasn’t been released.

Taking him into custody took a small army of law enforcement officers: Idaho State Police were joined by the Caldwell Police Department, Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office, Jerome Police Department, Jerome County Sheriff’s Office, Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office and Twin Falls Police Department. Even a private citizen pitched in, volunteering their own drone to help law enforcement scan the search area from above.

The search disrupted traffic and rattled nearby residents for roughly six hours before it was over.

State police say there’s no ongoing threat to the community now that the suspect’s in custody.