A driver who led state troopers on a high speed chase crashed his car then fled on foot leaving a 19 year-old woman and her infant child in the burning vehicle.
Around midnight Saturday, Trooper C.M. Wilson attempted to stop a silver Mercedes on Cleveland Road near Highway 42. The driver failed to pull over and the pursuit turned onto Highway 42 towards Clayton.
At the I-40 interchange, the driver struck a concrete median damaging both right side tires but the driver continued eastbound passing other cars while spewing sparks from his damaged car.
Near the intersection of Highway 42 and Cornwallis Road, the suspect lost control and slid into a ditch. The suspect fled on foot as a small fire started in the car. Troopers extinguished the flames and were surprised to find a teenage female and her infant child in the rear seat. Neither were injured.
Johnston County deputies and a K-9 unit assisted troopers in the search for the driver for more than an hour but the suspect eluded arrest.
Photos by John Payne
