CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An hours-long high-speed chase turned the heads of those in and around the Queen City Wednesday.
CMPD says it started as a residential breaking-and-entering. The suspect allegedly took off in a Jeep.
Throughout the situation, the male suspect stole a total of four cars, including a white pickup truck, a gold sedan, and a black Infiniti SUV. He also got into at least two crashes. Thankfully, police say no one was seriously injured.
A woman was in the passenger seat of the white pickup truck. CMPD says she will be charged. Queen City News is still working to learn her identity, and the identity of the suspect.
Throughout the more than 90-minute chase, the suspect traveled at high rates of speeds, blowing through several red lights, driving on sidewalks, and plowing through oncoming traffic.
The pursuit came to a final stop in front of the Shell gas station at the intersection of South Boulevard and East Boulevard in South End. The suspect crashed the stolen Infiniti SUV into a black Dodge Ram and surrendered to police without further incident.
KaryAnn Curtis was the original driver of the Infiniti. She says she was leaving Costco at Ballantyne Commons when she saw the suspect get into a crash right in front of her. She left her vehicle to see if anyone was hurt, when the suspect ran into her car and sped away.
“I just panicked because I didn’t know if there were kids in it or who was in it. And I just wanted to help,” she said. “To the driver of the car, I’d just like to know why he would risk so many innocent lives in something so careless.”
Thousands watched the terrifying scene unfold as the suspect sped through several areas of Charlotte. Alma Porter says she saw the suspect’s first crash at Ballantyne Commons and followed him to the final crash in South End.
“I just wanted to see him get caught and get off the road,” she said. “To see it on TV, you would think it’s something you would see in a movie. But to see it in person, you’re like wow. This is really happening.”
As the suspect traveled through neighborhoods, past schools, and along sidewalks, he caught the attention of small children as well. Eight-year-old Hunter Olson says the whole incident taught him a valuable lesson.
“I just felt so scared because, I mean, hijacking four cars is just really scary,” he said. “Robbery just never pays no matter what you do. So, make sure you never do it when you grow up because it’s just a bad idea.”
Keith Gabriel saw the chase come to an end outside his office building in South End. For him, the scene hit close to him. He says he had a family member who was killed by a suspect fleeing law enforcement.
“It was anger. Anger. Just innocent people trying to live their lives and make a way for their families and get home safe,” he said.
With the situation lasting more than 90 minutes, some were questioning why CMPD did not intervene sooner. Chief Jennings held a press conference Wednesday afternoon and said it is department policy to only pursue vehicles if innocent lives are in danger. He defended his officer’s response, saying he believed if they pursued earlier, it would have made the situation more dangerous. He believes the driver could have become even more erratic if he saw flashing blue lights and heard sirens. CMPD followed his path throughout the situation in their helicopter and pursued him only when he stole the fourth car, because they say they weren’t sure if there was an innocent civilian inside.
CMPD also said they did not call an outside agency, like North Carolina State Highway Patrol, to assist them because different agencies have different pursuit protocols. State police uses pit maneuvers, for instance, whereas CMPD does not. CMPD says whenever another agency with differing pursuit policies gets involved in a chase, CMPD discontinues their role in the pursuit.