A man with a missing Moore County juvenile inside his car crashed after a police chase, according to a press release from Locust Police Department.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, shortly before 5:30 a.m., Locust Police officers became involved in a pursuit with a vehicle inside Locust city limits that resulted in the crash of the suspect’s vehicle inside Charlotte.
Police said it began with a third-party call of a potentially stolen vehicle traveling toward Locust. Additional information received stated that a missing/endangered 17-year-old juvenile was also located in the vehicle as well.
Locust officers located the vehicle and observed it to also run a red light at the Main/Central intersection. Officers attempted to initiate a routine traffic stop of the vehicle, but the vehicle did not comply and began to flee at a high rate of speed. A “stop stick” deployment inside Locust city limits was attempted but was unsuccessful.
A Locust officer was able to continue to pursue the vehicle on Albemarle Road into Charlotte. Once in Charlotte in the area of Faulconbridge Road approximately 17 miles from the start of the pursuit, the suspect vehicle attempted to elude by passing around vehicles but lost control and struck a tree off the roadway.
Police said it was confirmed the missing/endangered juvenile was in the vehicle and had been officially reported missing out of Moore County. They suffered minor injuries and were expected to be released from a medical facility on Tuesday. The driver of the vehicle who is believed to be the non-custodial biological father of the juvenile suffered serious injuries in the crash and is currently listed in critical condition.
Police did not release the name of the juvenile and driver. Moore County Sheriff’s Department told Sandhills Sentinel the juvenile was not Jada Garnett who was last seen on Dec. 16, 2022, and that the juvenile was taken a couple of hours before the police chase.
Charges against the driver for felony flee to elude along with any other applicable charges will be pursued.
File photo/Contributed.
