Cary officers served Phillip Vance Smith II a warrant for armed robbery, and he also faces charges of probation violation after a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper finally caught him.

After chasing Smith, 21, of 101 Halpen Drive, Cary, over 2 miles, Trooper D.L. Witherspoon charged him with felonious attempt to elude, driving with suspended license, careless and reckless driving, speeding, hit and run and resisting, and obstructing and delaying a law enforcement officer.

Monday, Witherspoon clocked Smith at 56 mph in a 35 mph zone on North Main Street, outside the Salisbury city limits.

Witherspoon turned on his siren and attempted to pull over the speeding vehicle, but Smith wouldn’t stop.

Headed west on Innes Street, Smith drove his black Dodge between two vehicles stopped at one traffic light. Witness Titus Batten said one of Smith’s tires went flat and he lost control of the car. “He (Smith) went to the left and then right,” before crashing into a telephone pole in front of the Bank of America branch at Ellis Street, Batten said.

Smith then took off on foot, and Witherspoon, in his patrol car, followed Smith into the Central Carolina Bank parking lot across the street from the accident.

When Smith started to enter the bank building, Witherspoon began the chase on foot.

Witherspoon chased Smith straight through the building, and the suspect successfully pushed open the first set of glass doors. But according to Witherspoon, “he looked back to see where I was,” and Smith’s body went through the second glass door.

Central Carolina Bank estimated the damage to be $400. Damage to the three vehicles totaled $2,400.

Smith was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond.

The vehicle Smith wrecked was registered in his name, but it had been hot-wired, the Highway Patrol reported. Smith’s mother, Allenn McDuffie, did not want to comment on the incident.