Weaverville police investigate stolen-vehicle chase that ended in Asheville crash

A stolen-vehicle case that began at the Weaverville Walmart ended with a crash in Asheville and a suspect running into a nearby neighborhood, pulling police across multiple Buncombe County jurisdictions in a matter of minutes.

Weaverville police were dispatched at about 1:48 p.m. Sunday, May 24, to a report of a crime in progress at Walmart Supercenter, 25 Northridge Commons Pkwy, Weaverville, NC 28787. From there, the suspect fled in a stolen vehicle, and the pursuit moved toward Asheville before the vehicle crashed.

After the wreck, the suspect ran into a nearby neighborhood, according to the reporting. The fast-moving sequence turned what began as a call at a commercial shopping area in Weaverville into a broader public-safety response that could have affected drivers, shoppers and residents along the route into Asheville.

The scale of the response also reflects the geography of Buncombe County. Weaverville had 4,567 residents in the 2020 census, while Asheville had 94,589 and Buncombe County had 269,452. A pursuit that starts in a smaller town can quickly spill into far busier corridors, where traffic volumes and surrounding homes raise the stakes for officers and bystanders alike.

The case remains under investigation, and police are asking anyone with information about the suspect or what happened to contact the Weaverville Police Department. The department is listed at 30 S. Main Street in Weaverville. Non-emergency dispatch can be reached at (828) 250-6670, and the main phone number is (828) 645-5700.

Officials have not identified the suspect, said whether anyone was injured, or said what specific offense prompted the initial call at Walmart before the vehicle fled. Asheville Police Department records on incidents and crashes are also available through its Police to Citizen portal, which could become relevant if the crash falls within Asheville city limits and additional records are released.