CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man will be arrested upon release from the hospital after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said he was responsible for causing a chaotic series of events in south Charlotte Thursday night which ended in multiple car crashes and left two officers hurt.
Police initially were alerted about 25-year-old Terry Dennis after an off-duty officer was flagged down by a citizen and told Dennis was slumped over his steering wheel in the parking lot of the Arboretum around 5:45 p.m.
When the officer approached Dennis, he became combative, police said. He then tried to flee, driving off and striking the officer before hitting several vehicles -- including a police car -- and flipping his car.
IMAGES: Crash shuts down Pineville-Matthew Road near Aboretum
Another officer arrived and tried to arrest Dennis but was injured.
CMPD said Dennis then ran off and stole another car.
"Some lady was getting into her BMW and from what I heard, he took her keys and carjacked her," witness Garret Troxler said.
The driver of the BMW was actually a man and he told Channel 9 he was at a stop light when Dennis slapped his hood. He got out of the car thinking he hit Dennis. That's when Dennis charged for his car and took off with it.
Dennis then hit two more vehicles on Pineville-Matthews Road -- causing one of them to flip and shutting the entire road down between Rea Road and Raintree Lane, police said.
Dennis then jumped from the vehicle and ran to a nearby wooded area, where he was arrested, police said.
Dennis was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with minor injuries and CMPD said that he was impaired when that officer approached him in his car.
The off-duty officer suffered serious injuries but will be OK and the second officer received minor injuries, according to police.
CMPD said the two drivers whose cars were hit also suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"This type of stuff never happens down here," Troxler said. "I mean this is like once in 20 years something like this happens here."
Dennis has been charged with two counts of driving while impaired, two counts of felony serious injury by vehicle, three counts of felony hit and run, two counts of reckless driving, four counts of misdemeanor hit and run, possession of drug paraphernalia, two counts of resisting public officer, assault with a deadly weapon with Intent to kill, inflicting serious injury, assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer, auto theft, trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a stolen firearm, two counts of possession of firearm by felon, and maintaining a vehicle for storage/sale of a controlled substance.
Channel 9 learned that Dennis has prior traffic and drug-related charges.
He will be arrested as soon as he is released from the hospital.
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