Kannapolis man’s chase ends with laundry list of charges after covering three counties
Published 11:15 am Wednesday, June 2, 2021
- Mitchell Ryan Herrington
SALISBURY — A chase that began in Salisbury and spanned three counties ended late Tuesday in an unincorporated area of Cabarrus County with law enforcement officers using a stun gun on the man, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said.
Mitchell Ryan Herrington, 40, of Kannapolis faces a list of charges for leading a law enforcement officers on a chase on Interstate 85, calling 911 to say he didn’t plan to stop and would kill himself as well as barricading himself inside his house at 4052 Salisbury-Old Concord Road.
Herrington’s car, a black 2006 BMW X3, lost its tires after law enforcement officers used Stop Sticks, a brand of tire deflation device, multiple times. He then allegedly barricaded himself in his house, assumed a fighting position when officers confronted him in the home and was stunned with a Taser, said Maj. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
Herrington remained in the Rowan County Detention Center Wednesday morning with a total bond of $250,000.
It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday when, where or what started the chase. While the Salisbury Police Department initiated the chase, Sgt. Russ DeSantis said a report wasn’t complete.
Rowan County Sheriff’s Office deputy T.J. Luby joined the chase around the Webb Road exit shortly before 11 p.m. after listening to scanner traffic and hearing Salisbury Police officer B.W. Jones pursuing a vehicle on I-85 south by himself. The Sheriff’s Office report stated Herrington’s car didn’t have a license plate.
Rowan 911 Communications told pursuing officers during the chase Herrington called, said he wouldn’t stop for law enforcement, made threats and said he would kill himself.
Herrington allegedly reached speeds up to 100 mph. He took the chase into Cabarrus and into Mecklenburg counties on I-85. At the Mecklenburg County line, the Salisbury Police officer discontinued his pursuit and Luby took the primary chase position.
At I-85’s Brookshire Boulevard exit in Charlotte, Herrington abruptly turned to the right, cutting off a tractor-trailer and driving over a grassy hill onto the exit ramp, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said. He returned to I-85 — this time heading north.
As the chase approached exit 58 in Cabarrus County, N.C. Highway Patrol troopers used Stop Sticks on Herrington’s vehicle, but the spikes also struck Luby’s tires. A Sheriff’s Office report states Luby pulled over to the side of the interstate, changed his tire while listening to the pursuit and attempted to rejoin the chase.
When Luby caught up, Herrington’s car was in the front yard of the house at 4052 Salisbury-Old Concord Road with all four tires missing. Herrington was in custody.
Sifford said three Rowan deputies, Cabarrus County deputies and Highway Patrol troopers entered the house together and found Herrington in a bathroom. The law enforcement officers kicked in the bathroom door and stunned him with a Taser after Herrington “challenged us by deploying a fighting stance,” a Sheriff’s Office report stated.
His full list of charges is as follows:
• Misuse of 911 emergency telephone system
• Resisting arrest
• Felony fleeing to elude
• Aggressive driving
• Fleeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle
• Driving while license revoked
• Speeding
• Failing to heed lights or sirens
• Safety zone or sidewalk violation
• Reckless driving to endanger