Wake Forest Man Arrested After Youngsville Food Lion, Sam’s Club Attacks

Wake Forest police say Anthony Howard Hall II remains jailed at the Wake County Detention Center without bond after an alleged two-day assault spree that spanned Youngsville, Wake Forest and Raleigh and prompted a state trooper vehicle chase into North Hills. Authorities say the incidents occurred Feb. 15–16 and involved multiple victims and the theft of a vehicle.

Police allege the Sam’s Club attack in Wake Forest occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot on Royall Cotton Road. Investigators say Hall approached a woman, demanded money and threw her to the ground. When a man intervened, police say Hall punched him to the ground. A second woman who left her vehicle to help was then forced out of her car when Hall jumped into it and fled, according to the police account.

Following the Wake Forest incident, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol intercepted the stolen vehicle near North Hills in Raleigh, authorities report. Troopers pursued the vehicle into the North Hills Shopping District, where Hall reportedly exited the car, ran and tackled a security guard before troopers arrested him. A broadcast transcript of the arrest sequence said Hall tackled a security guard he mistakenly thought was a police officer.

Investigators tied Hall to an earlier assault at a Food Lion parking lot in Youngsville that police say happened Friday night. Franklin County-related charges tied to that incident include assault with a deadly weapon, malicious assault in secret, assault inflicting serious injury and injury to personal property, according to the list of counts released by investigators.

Police also provided a list of Wake Forest-area counts stemming from the Sam’s Club incident that includes attempted common-law robbery, larceny of a motor vehicle, two counts of assault on a female and one count of simple assault. Separately, authorities have said Hall faces 17 charges in Wake County and four in Franklin County, a total of 21 charges, a numeric breakdown provided by the county authorities that does not directly match the subset of named counts released publicly; formal charging documents from the district attorney’s office and jail booking records will reconcile the full list and totals.

Hall is identified in police releases as a Wake Forest resident. He was booked into the Wake County Detention Center and was expected to make his first court appearance Monday at 1:30 p.m., when a judge would consider bond and the formal charging instrument. Wake Forest police and the State Highway Patrol are the lead agencies cited in the arrest and investigation; Franklin County law enforcement is handling the Food Lion assault allegations.