An Albemarle 15-year-old went on a five-hour, two-county rampage, authorities say, stealing two cars, slamming into a police car and damaging a home and a school.
According to law enforcement reports, here’s what happened:
The teen, whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile, took a 1995 Dodge Ram pickup late Saturday night from a home in Albemarle.
About 2 a.m., Stanly County Sheriff’s Deputies and Pfeiffer campus police began tailing the truck. Authorities believed the driver had broken into a home in Albemarle.
The teen drove the vehicle into Rowan County.Authorities followed.
The truck wrecked on Gin Road, south of Rockwell. The teen jumped and ran from the vehicle. Deputies tried to locate him but were not successful.
About two hours later Doris Sue Kluttz, 53, of 108 Vance Allen Ave., Rockwell, reported someone had broken into her home through a sliding glass door, then went into her garage and stole her 1994 Chevrolet pick-up.
About 6 a.m., J.L. Mullis of Parker Lane, Richfield, reported someone in a truck hit the corner post of his deck and slammed into a nearby tree.
And the complaints kept coming.
At Richfield Elementary School, officials reported their soccer field and a goal post were damaged by a vehicle.
Stanly County Deputies and Pfeiffer Campus Police finally caught up with the teen on U.S. 52. And the pursuit was on.
The teen led the officers on a high-speed chase that ended to a mobile home park off of Johnson Dairy Road, just south of Rockwell.
Authorities trapped the truck between the homes. Trying to escape, the teen rammed into the front of the Pfeiffer officer’s car, then grazed the right rear section of a Stanly deputy’s car. Damage to both vehicles was estimated at about $900.
There deputies finally took the teen into custody. Rowan Sheriff’s deputies and the N.C. Highway Patrol helped in the chase.
Authorities charged the youth with two counts of larceny of a motor vehicle, breaking and entering and larceny, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, five counts of damage to property, two counts of speeding to elude arrest and first degree burglary.
The teen also faces charges of first-degree burglary and larceny for the break-in at the Rockwell home.
Reports indicate that the teen had used drugs or alcohol, but so far he faces no drug-related charges.
The boy was taken to the Richmond Youth Detention Center, pending an appearance in juvenile court in Stanly County.
Contact Jonathan Weaver at 704-797-4266 or jweaver@salisburypost.com
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