Driver charged after wrong-way chase on Interstate 40 in Alamance County

Multiple 911 calls sent Alamance County deputies to Interstate 40/85 near Burlington around 1:45 a.m. after a vehicle was reported driving east in the westbound lanes. Deputies said the car was a white Mercedes, and a nearby deputy, Deputy Louizes, began searching with lights and sirens activated.

Deputy Louizes spotted the Mercedes going the wrong way near Exit 145, a stretch of highway that carries commuters, freight traffic and travelers across the Triad. The vehicle did not stop immediately. A later stop involved a PIT maneuver, a tactic used to bring a fleeing car to a controlled halt.

Authorities charged the driver after the wrong-way chase, underscoring how quickly a highway pursuit can become a public-safety emergency on one of Alamance County’s busiest roads. Westbound drivers on I-40/85 had little room to react if the Mercedes met traffic head-on, turning one driver’s decision into a risk for everyone sharing the corridor.

The incident also fits a broader pattern of wrong-way driving on major North Carolina highways. Wrong-way crashes on I-40 have turned deadly elsewhere in the state, and Raleigh police charged Aleyda Josmari Soriano-Coto after she drove the wrong way on Interstate 540 and caused a head-on crash. Those cases show why law enforcement treats wrong-way driving as more than a traffic violation when it happens at highway speeds.

In Alamance County, the combination of a wrong-way vehicle, a nighttime response and a pursuit along I-40/85 put the focus on both the charge and the stop itself. The sheriff’s office response on a crowded regional artery made clear that this was not a routine traffic stop, but a high-danger incident with immediate consequences for other motorists.