ERWIN, N.C. (WNCN) — A Thursday morning chase involving a Four Oaks police officer ended with one suspect in custody and another taken to a hospital after a controlled collision in Erwin, officials told CBS 17.
According to First Sgt. Chris Knox of the N.C. State Highway Patrol, it was around 10 a.m. when troopers were notified of the chase in progress.
An officer had initiated a traffic stop shortly before on a silver four-door Pontiac with a male and a female in it, Four Oaks Police Chief Steven Anderson told CBS 17.
As the chase progressed, the passenger in the vehicle began throwing items out of the window that Anderson called suspected drugs.
The vehicle then exited onto Interstate 95 and eventually onto Interstate 40.
A Four Oaks officer, Knox said, was “in a pursuit on I-40 westbound from I-95,” before the chase ended near Cape Fear Christian Academy which is about three miles north of Erwin on U.S. 421.
Troopers were able to join in the chase in a secondary position behind the Four Oaks officer, he said.
The wreck, Knox said, was the result of a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver by troopers. As he describes, the troopers involved were able to box the vehicle in with the maneuver on the highway in Harnett County.
The pursuit came to end just across from Sam Honeycutt’s home across from Cape Fear Christian Academy.
“He was not gonna stop if law enforcement hadn’t stopped him here. It could have been so much worse. He could have hit someone head on,” Honeycutt said. “They took him out in the right place. They did an outstanding job.”
Anderson said authorities found a machete and an AirSoft pellet gun in the suspects’ car.
CBS 17 has a crew in Erwin working to establish the cause of the chase, the identity of any suspects, any charges involved, and the condition of the officer involved in the wreck.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.