Two small children are reunited with their mother, and their father is in jail after an alleged kidnapping and car chase, spanning three area counties.

It started around 8:45 Thursday morning, with a call to the Jackson County Sheriff's office, about a domestic violence issue on Willmar road, in Kynesville.

The caller said two small children, ages three and six, were being forced into a vehicle against their will by their father, William Clayton Anderson.

A neighbor heard the children screaming, and tried to stop Anderson; but Anderson threatened the neighbor with a baseball bat -- then sped away.

Hours later, deputies tried to catch Anderson at a home off State Road 274 in Calhoun County, but he took off with the kids again.

Calhoun County Sheriff's deputies joined the hunt.

The Florida Highway Patrol set up roadblocks, but deputies had to jump out of the way when Anderson drove right at them.

The car chase ended around seven last night, when Anderson stopped the vehicle in a pasture on Sweetwater Branch Road, in Bay County.

Anderson is in the Bay County Jail, awaiting a bond hearing on numerous felony charges.

The children are okay.