Wake County deputy cruiser hit in stolen-car chase, suspect at large

A stolen-car chase in Wake County ended early Friday morning when a driver hit a deputy cruiser and ran, leaving the suspect at large in the Raleigh area.

The man was driving a stolen vehicle when deputies tried to stop him. The chase escalated into a collision with a Wake County deputy cruiser, then the suspect got out and escaped on foot. The sheriff’s office has not released a physical description of the man, but deputies were still looking for him as the day unfolded.

Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe’s office has a formal vehicle-pursuit policy that requires deputies to weigh public-safety risks before and during a chase. The policy manual says those decisions are meant to guide emergency response and pursuit activity “as safe and efficient a manner as possible under the conditions presented,” and the agency reviews each pursuit afterward to determine whether policy was followed.

On Sunday, May 24, in a similar Wake County case, a man was speeding around 10:30 a.m. on Poole Road near Barwell Road when a deputy spotted him. The pursuit continued to Misty River Drive, where he crashed into an uninvolved vehicle, stole another car and fled again.

No serious injuries were reported in that May 24 case, and the stolen vehicle was later recovered. The suspect remained at large for hours after the crash and was described as 5-foot-7, about 260 pounds, with brown eyes and dreadlocks or braided hair. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, black pants, no shoes and black socks.