Members of Mebane’s municipal police force were drawn into a high-speed chase in the small hours on Wednesday after the city’s police department received a call about a dangerously erratic driver on I-85/40.
This breathless pursuit, which reportedly reached speeds of 90 miles an hour, began at 1:09 a.m. when the city’s police officers noticed the suspect vehicle near the interstate interchange for Mebane Oaks Road.
According to the city’s police department, another motorist had called 9-1-1 about this vehicle after it nearly ran them off the road. The officers who answered the call soon ascertained that the car itself matched one which the Carrboro police department had reported as stolen. They consequently tried to pull the vehicle over, only to have the driver gun the accelerator when hailed.
According to the police department, the subsequent chase continued as far as the city limits of Durham, where the driver reportedly lost control and crashed near Exit 176B. The city’s police officers went on to detain all four of the vehicle’s occupants, who had reportedly survived the collision unscathed. They also recovered a firearm and a substance they tentatively IDed as cocaine from the car.
The city’s police department has identified two of the vehicle’s occupants as 19-year-old Amir G. James of Hillsborough and 18-year-old Colby Williams of Chapel Hill.
According to the department, Willams and James currently face charges that include the possession of a stolen vehicle, felony-level speeding to elude arrest, the possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with the intent to sell or deliver the drug, and resisting, obstructing, or delaying law enforcement officials.
In addition, the city’s police department reportedly took custody of two juveniles whose charges and biographical details are being withheld because of their age.
