A bizarre car chase and manhunt across northwest Lawrence was called off Tuesday evening after a 31-year-old suspect managed to elude Lawrence Police and a Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter for much of the afternoon.

The chase led from a Lawrence motel through the Lawrence Country Club golf course and into area neighborhoods and woods before officers literally called off the dogs at 6:18 p.m. A Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter also took part in the failed dragnet.

The commotion in the neighborhood northwest of the country club surprised residents at the end of the day.

“I came home and saw all these police cars and a helicopter flying low over the houses,” said one resident, who asked that his name not be used. “I didn’t know what was going on.”

The chase began about 2:30 p.m., as police were preparing to serve a search warrant at the Ramada Inn, 2222 W. Sixth St., on a man sought in a forgery and counterfeiting investigation.

But the suspect, identified by police as Paul Caswell, fled the area in a 1982 Lincoln with officers in pursuit.

According to police accounts, the Lincoln was driven to a dead end on Canyon Drive, then went off the road and across the country club golf course. Caswell abandoned the car in the 500 block of Bently Drive and ran northwest through a wooded area near Kasold Drive.

The suspect, who also was wanted on a Nebraska federal parole violation, was last seen in the area of Schlumberger REDA Production Systems plant, 2400 Packer Road.

Thinking he may have been hiding in a car leaving the plant Tuesday afternoon, police checked the cabins and trunks of all cars leaving the industrial park area.

When the search was called off, police were asking the public to watch for Caswell, thought to be wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt with writing on it. They described him as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He has blue eyes and “very blond” hair, almost as if it was bleached blond, police said.

“We’re wanting to hear from anyone who might have seen him or who might have given him a ride,” Sgt. Mike Pattrick said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call police at 830-7430, or 843-TIPS. Callers to the Crime Stoppers Tips number can remain anonymous.