KENLY – An alert citizen spotted two men allegedly smashing the glass front door of Kenly’s Piggly Wiggly grocery store around 11:50pm Thursday. The suspects reportedly entered the store but quickly retreated when an alarm sounded.
The burglars fled the scene in a GMC SUV. The eyewitness called 911 and followed the suspects on Highway 222 where a deputy met then at Highway 42 and attempted a traffic stop.
When the deputy turned on his blue lights, two suspects bailed out and ran into the darkness. The third was quickly taken into custody at the SUV.
Deputies rushed to the scene of the traffic stop and set up a perimeter, with assistance from the State Highway Patrol.
A Smithfield Police K-9 unit initiated a search and located a second suspect lying in a ditch. He was taken into custody without incident.
A thorough search of the area failed to turn up the third suspect, however, deputies hoped to identify him by surveillance video at the store.
Authorities said a sledge hammer was used by the suspects to break the door, sending broken glass over a wide area inside the grocery store.
Johnston County EMS was called to treat one of the suspects who had been injured by broken glass as he entered the store.
Charges against the suspects were pending. Their names and charges were not immediately available.
