North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers stopped a fleeing driver on Interstate 40 in Orange County on Thursday afternoon, marking the end to a cross-county chase that backed up traffic for several hours.

A release from the highway patrol shared on Friday morning said a trooper in Wake County saw a vehicle traveling west-bound on the interstate around 4:10 p.m., which matched the description of a gray Kia Sol that fled an attempted stop for speeding by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office earlier in the day. The suspect vehicle, which was traveling at “excessively high rate of speed,” then ignored the trooper’s efforts to pull over the car according to the highway patrol.

From there, the Kia Sol was pursued by law enforcement through the rest of Wake and Durham counties, ultimately arriving in Orange County. According to the State Highway Patrol, troopers successfully stopped the suspect by performing a rolling road block in the westbound lanes of I-40 — a tactic used after tire deflation devices failed to immediately stop the driver. WRAL reported the incident happened near Exit 157, which is close to Mebane.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the Kia Sol had a driver and one adult passenger. Although no serious injuries were reported for either person, both were transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation and observation. Friday’s release said state troopers suspect impairment played a role in the driver’s actions.

28-year-old Emone Gaines of Virginia was identified as the driver. Law enforcement charged him with nine crimes, including driving while impaired, felony fleeing to elude arrest, possession of open container and driving without a license.

No law enforcement members or other drivers were injured during the chase, according to the State Highway Patrol. Lanes on westbound I-40 that got closed due to the rolling road block were reopened after 6 p.m. on Thursday.

 

Photo via AP File Photo/Skip Foreman.

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