17-year-old arrested in Johnston County after 130 mph chase that ended in a crash
A teenager was arrested and charged by Johnston County deputies for speeding over 130 mph and eluding law enforcement in two high-speed chases on Friday night before crashing on Interstate 40.
The 17-year-old driver was first spotted in a yellow 2006 Dodge Charger by a Johnston County sheriff’s deputy speeding in Clayton on U.S. 70. He was clocked driving at least 131 mph, Capt. Rob Runner of the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office told The News & Observer.
The deputy chased after the vehicle before losing it near Swift Creek Road.
Another sheriff’s deputy spotted the Charger and chased it, heading toward Smithfield on Cleveland Road before losing sight of the vehicle.
Deputies then responded to a call about a vehicle that had crashed at the exchange of Cleveland Road and Interstate 40 before midnight.
The driver of the vehicle was taken to a WakeMed hospital with injuries but was released Saturday morning and jailed at the Johnston County Detention Center, Runner said.
The teenager faces multiple charges including speeding, careless driving, reckless driving and felony speeding to elude arrest.
State Highway Patrol officials told WRAL, which first reported the news, that the car was airborne after driving off of the Cleveland Road bridge onto I-40 below. It landed on the back left quarter of another vehicle below the bridge, State Highway Patrol trooper Sgt. Sean Bridges said in a phone interview.
The Charger then “went all the way across I-40 and came to rest on the other side, off the road,” Bridge said. The driver hit a construction barrier and flipped.
The car was wrecked completely. No injuries besides the driver’s were reported.
