A high-speed chase involving several motorcycles and law enforcement came to a head this past weekend, leading to charges against two individuals and a collision that resulted in minor injuries. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol initiated a pursuit when three motorcyclists were observed impeding traffic on Interstate 95 South in Johnston County around 6:24 p.m. Saturday, according to WRAL.
Despite the attempt to pull them over, two motorcyclists continued to evade authorities, one remaining unidentified after exiting I-40 near mile marker 325, while the other, Damon Shaki Smithwick, led a pursuit that crested speeds of up to 115 mph, as reported by CBS17. Smithwick's chase ended with a crash after he ran a red light on Wade Avenue at Faircloth street in Raleigh, hitting another vehicle.
Smithwick, a 51-year-old resident of Raleigh, was taken into custody after the crash and transported to Wake Medical Center with minor injuries. He faces multiple charges including felony flee to elude arrest, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a stolen firearm, and reckless driving among others. "I did see the car for the brief second. It was in the intersection. The front end was completely torn off," a witness, identified only as Brown, told CBS17.
Contrastingly, another motorcyclist from the group, Reginald A. Harrison Jr., decided to stop on the shoulder and surrendered. He was subsequently arrested and charged with misdemeanor flee to elude arrest, carrying a concealed gun, and driving with no insurance among other charges, as WRAL reports.
In an unrelated but coincidental incident, another crash disrupted traffic on Raleigh's Wade Avenue Monday morning which involved a tractor-trailer and a white SUV, leading to at least three serious injuries as per ABC11. Travelling near I-40, the collision's victims were taken as trauma patients to a hospital.
