Four found dead after car plunges into pond during police chase, NC cops say
Four people were found dead after a car careened into a pond during a police chase in North Carolina, officials said.
A rope was used to pull a fifth person to safety from the 15-foot-deep water after they escaped the sinking car, the N.C. Highway Patrol said, according to multiple news outlets.
The events unfolded after officials said a state trooper pursued a Ford vehicle for speeding on Monday night in Duplin County, east of Fayetteville, WITN reported. The car didn’t stop and continued driving down N.C. 24 before turning north onto N.C. 11, officials said, according to the station.
“A siren coming by woke me up because I was asleep,” Keith Kennedy, who lives along the route, told WITN. “Most of the time, it’s local people that just make mistakes. But I understand these people were not familiar with the area and were probably exceeding the speed limit and couldn’t stop.”
Officials said the car eventually ran off the road, going past a fence and plunging into a pond, according to news outlets.
The trooper involved in the chase threw a rope into the water and helped one person before the car submerged, WNCT reported. The person who was pulled from the water was taken to Vidant Duplin Hospital in Kenansville with “minor injuries,” according to the TV station.
Crews searched through the night before pulling the car out of the water, WCTI reported. Officials said four bodies were found inside.
The people who died were identified in news reports as Tavius Carroll, 21, of Dunn; Geavon Myles, 17, of Magnolia; Amanda Serrano-Garcia, 19, of Lillington; and Jordan Southers, 20, of Angier.
N.C. State Highway Patrol didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for information on Wednesday morning.
