SUV was stolen from parking lot shortly before police chase in Raleigh, 911 caller said

A man who authorities say led police on a chase that led to gunfire on a busy road Monday afternoon is suspected of stealing a GMC Terrain roughly 20 minutes earlier.

A 911 caller told a dispatcher around 4:10 p.m. Monday that his or her 2011 sport-utility vehicle was stolen near a Food Lion grocery store off of Raleigh Boulevard.

Police have charged Ronie Demitri Hyman, 22, of Addison Street in Raleigh with vehicle theft, felony fleeing to elude police and failing to stop after a property-damage accident. He was also charged with reckless driving.

A Raleigh police officer fired a gun at the vehicle during a chase, which spanned Raleigh Boulevard, Rock Quarry Road and Western Boulevard, authorities said.

Police were pursuing the vehicle after the 911 caller told a dispatcher that a young man had stolen it while it was in the parking lot of a store.

“You don’t know who took it?” the dispatcher asked.

“I don’t know who it was, sweetheart,” the caller said. “He just jumped in the car and went off with the car.”

It’s unclear why the officer fired at the suspect during the chase, which ended around 4:30 p.m. Monday on Western Boulevard near the campus of N.C. State University.

An internal report on the shooting will be released within five days, police said, which is standard practice after an officer fires a weapon.

Hyman was held at the Wake County Justice Center in lieu of $60,000 bail.

This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 3:35 PM.