A 21-year-old Topeka man was booked into Douglas County Jail early Thursday on suspicion of burglary, theft and other crimes after Lawrence police arrested him following a brief foot race.

Eric Edward Ballard is in jail on a $5,000 bond. Lawrence police arrested him in the 300 block of Park Avenue at 1:40 a.m. Thursday. According to Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman, officers arrived in the 2100 block of Kentucky Street after an area resident reportedly saw Ballard crouched down in a driveway near a vehicle and later saw him carrying a gas can. When police arrived, Ballard dropped the gas can, which police say was stolen from an open garage nearby, and led officers on a foot chase, McKinley said.

Ballard is also suspected of possessing a controlled substance and felony obstruction.