PAHOKEE, Fla. -- Authorities have a man in custody after a chase early Wednesday morning in south Florida that left two deputies dead and a third injured.

Two Florida Deputies Killed By Patrol Car

Two Palm Beach County deputies who were trying to stop a stolen vehicle on a rural road were killed when a police car struck them.

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the deputies put spikes on the road that punctured the stolen car's tires and were hit when they ran to take the spikes off the road.

He said it was dark at the time and they may not have realized how fast the police car was coming at them.

Bradshaw said the two deputies were hit and died at the scene. A third deputy was airlifted by Trauma-Hawk to St. Mary's Medical Center with head injuries.

Police said they received a 911 call from a citizen in Belle Glade around 1:45 a.m. reporting that two men were stealing a neighbor's car.

According to a police report, responding deputies spotted the 1990 gold Toyota Camry traveling northbound on Highway 715 and gave chase, WPBF-TV in Palm Beach Gardens reported.

More than 75 deputies were searching nearby sugarcane fields for the two suspects.

Investigators tracked skid marks and determined the stolen car went into a canal near Pahokee, about 45 miles west of West Palm Beach.

It's not clear if the man in custody is one of the two suspects officers had been searching for.

The identities of the two deputy sheriffs were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The deputies are the latest South Florida law enforcement victims this year.

Broward Deputy Paul Rein was killed earlier this month while transporting a suspect to court. Broward Sergeant Chris Reyka was fatally shot as he was looking for stolen cars behind a drug store in August.

In September, a Miami-Dade County police officer, Jose Somohano, was fatally shot by a suspect who ambushed him and three other officers with an assault weapon.