Union County Sheriff's Office deputies had a run-in with a shoplifting suspect early this week behind a Walmart in Indian Trail, leading to a high-speed chase and an eventual arrest according to the UCSO press release. Deputies responded to the scene after the suspect fled the store with goods valued over $6,000; the hunt for the alleged thief didn't last long as deputies located 42-year-old Marco Vongmalaythong in his SUV not far from the scene.
The chase ensued when Vongmalaythong ignored deputies' commands and sped off onto Younts Road, but his flight was short-lived when he turned too wide onto Indian Trail Fairview Road, hitting a curb, his lack of driving skill was on full display as his SUV rolled onto its side, trapping him inside, in a twist that could pass as divine intervention, the same law enforcement officials he evaded were the ones who extracted him from his toppled vehicle. "Our deputies and attempted to stop him," but "Marco disregarded the instructions" and sealed his fate with a botched getaway maneuver, as UCSO detailed.
With the suspect in handcuffs, the sheriff's office recovered the stolen items from the SUV, and under North Carolina's Run and Done Law, they also seized Vongmalaythong's vehicle. The aftermath of the ill-fated chase landed Vongmalaythong in the Union County Detention Center with charges of Felony Larceny and Felony Speeding to Elude Arrest, where he was processed with a secured bond set at $100,000.
While the UCSO shared the outcome of the incident, UCSO also issued some stark reminders: Union County is not the place to commit a crime, citing that perpetrators will be caught and incarcerated, and perhaps a more tongue-in-cheek piece of advice – leave the high-speed maneuvers to professional drivers because as it turned out, "Marco may be good at many other things," but "driving and stealing are clearly not his strong suits," the press release concluded on a didactic note.
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