Locust Police Department issued the following announcement on Dec. 19.
Congratulations to PO2 Jared Smith who was awarded a commendation pin yesterday from Stinger Spike Systems for his successful deployment of a tire deflation device in October that safely ended a felony pursuit and ultimately resulted in the apprehension of the driver on multiple charges.
In the early morning hours of October 24th, a Nissan passenger car attempted to evade a Locust Police Department checkpoint and was pursued by the NC State Highway Patrol and other involved agencies. The vehicle fled into the Barbara Ann Park subdivision off of Meadowcreek Church Road, and Officer Smith was able to position himself and deploy a Stop Stick tire deflation device in an attempt to safely disable the suspect vehicle's tires and end the pursuit. The deployment was successful in disabling tires on the vehicle resulting in the suspect vehicle crashing off of Meadowcreek Church Road. Due to extensive officer safety measures being taken and the very dark conditions, the driver of the vehicle was able to flee on foot however through investigation he was identified. Warrants were issued for his arrest for multiple charges including felony flee to elude arrest. No injuries or property damage were reported as a result of the pursuit with the only damage occurring to the suspect's vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was apprehended without incident later on the same day.
Coincidentally Officer Smith's patrol partner Officer Derek Yang was awarded the same commendation from Stinger for also successfully ending a felony pursuit in June with the same tire deflation device. Both officers were resupplied by Stinger with new tire deflation devices so if you plan to flee feloniously from the Locust Police Department or surrounding areas, you may want to hope this crew isn't on duty.
Congratulations and great job Jared!
Original source can be found here.
Source: Locust Police Department
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