CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — A high-speed chase in Burke and Caldwell Counties ended with a crash south of Lenoir where several cars and a restaurant were damaged Monday.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty the pickup truck they were chasing was stolen, and deputies were trying to get it to stop along Connelly Springs Road.
The chase ended in the parking lot of Frosty Freeze in the Cajah’s Mountain community.
The driver of the truck flipped and hit a Honda with a father and his 7-month-old son inside, officials said.
Byron Strang was heading south on Connelly Springs Road when he and his 7-month-old son were struck head-on while inside their Honda.
“I thought somebody was in a hurry,” Strang told Faherty.
Strang said he had no idea it was a chase. The Burke County sheriff says his department does have a chase policy, and they’re reviewing it along with videos in the patrol cars.
“I definitely think it should be done at certain times and certain places; endangering all these people driving down the road and trying to get our kids from school,” Strang said.
Thankfully, the father says his son was safely secured in a car seat, and neither of the two were hurt in the crash.
The stolen truck had white paint in the bed that covered cars and the nearby restaurant.
One woman who was working in the drive-thru at Frosty Freeze says she’s still shaken by what happened.
“I was in shock. I was shaking,” Tracy Blevins said. “I don’t think they should chase after a certain speed limit.”
The suspect is in custody in Morganton and being held onf a $440,000 bond. The sheriff says officials are reviewing their chase policy over this.
A GoFundMe has been created to help support the person whose truck was stolen.
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