Four charged after shots fired call turns into police chase

SALISBURY — Four people have been charged after police said they fled from a traffic stop. The stop was initiated after a witness said one man in the group was drinking and shooting into the ground.

The incident began at approximately 3 p.m. on Thursday when deputies responded to a home in the 1000 block of Rainey Road in reference to shots being fired in the area, according to a spokesperson for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. When they arrived in the area, the deputies reportedly noticed a gray Jeep driving away. The caller pointed out the Jeep and said that a man in the car was drinking and shooting into the ground, according to the spokesperson.

One deputy then reportedly attempted to catch up to the Jeep and initiate a traffic stop on Coley Road. The Jeep then allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign and turned onto South Main Street in Granite Quarry. Eventually the vehicle pulled into a gravel lot near Depot Street before speeding away again when the deputy got out and approached the Jeep, the spokesperson said.

As the Jeep approached Faith Road, the driver allegedly attempted to pass a tractor-trailer on a double yellow line and continued to swerve in between vehicles while driving into oncoming traffic. Eventually, the deputy reportedly lost sight of the vehicle as it turned right onto Faith Road.

The deputy was told by communications that three other deputies had stopped the vehicle in the 100 block of Moyle Avenue, according to the spokesperson. There, two males, including the driver of the Jeep, had allegedly jumped out and run into the woods. The deputies had also reportedly taken two females that were in the vehicle into custody.

The deputies checked next door to where they had stopped the vehicle, where they found the males and took them into custody after a short foot chase, the spokesperson said. A K-9 unit was called to the scene and reportedly found the firearm that had been used earlier nearby in a backyard. Deputies also reportedly found multiple opened Keystone Light beers in the Jeep, including one in the front cupholder.

EMS personnel were called to the scene after one of the males, 34-year-old Lamar Rashad Alston, told the deputies that he had asthma and was having difficulty breathing, the spokesperson said. The driver, 34-year-old Adam Lee Gibson, allegedly told EMS that he believed his arm had been broken and was transported to the hospital.

The two females, identified as 36-year-old Lauren Chanelle Graeber and 45-year-old Natasha Dechole Cruse, and Alston were all cited for resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer and released. Gibson was arrested after receiving treatment and charged with felony fleeing to elude; possession of a firearm by a felon; driving while his license was revoked; and resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.

Gibson was also served with warrants for communicating threats and assault on a female. Gibson was out on parole for multiple convictions from 2020, including robbery with a dangerous weapon and a habitual felon charge, according to N.C. Department of Adult Corrections records.

Gibson was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center and given a $100,000 bond.

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