A tragic situation unfolded in Ashe County after a man died following an encounter with law enforcement officers during an attempted arrest early Friday morning. According to a report by WCNC, deputies attempted to pull over 48-year-old Stuart Chad Mast just before 1 a.m, initiating a pursuit that ended near Sheets Bridge where Mast allegedly fought with at least one deputy and after being placed in handcuffs, he lost consciousness, leading to immediate life-saving measures by the deputies including the administration of two doses of Narcan, but despite these efforts, Mast was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Further details from QC News illuminate the incident, noting Mast initially failed to comply with deputies' commands to dismount and lay on the ground, which precipitated a physical altercation; after Mast became unconscious, deputies deployed an AED and continued CPR until paramedics arrived and transported him to Ashe Memorial Hospital.

The case has consequently drawn the attention of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, now charged with unpacking these chain of events, while the sheriff's office confirmed that one deputy involved in the incident was hospitalized and later released, and two others sustained minor injuries, this detailed in a statement by WSOC-TV.

No further information regarding the circumstances leading to the attempted arrest or the events following Mast's stoppage has been made publicly available by authorities as the investigation continues.