A Sunday arrest capped a wild 24 hours across Wake and Franklin counties, after investigators say a Wake Forest man carried out back-to-back daytime assaults in busy parking lots, then bolted across county lines before troopers boxed him in near Raleigh's North Hills. Authorities identified the suspect as Anthony Howard Hall. He is being held in the Wake County Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.
Back-to-back parking-lot attacks, police say
According to Wake Forest police, the weekend turned ugly around 3 p.m. Saturday in the Sam’s Club parking lot on West Oak Avenue. Officers say Hall approached a woman, demanded cash and threw her to the ground. When a man stepped in to help, police say Hall punched him. A second woman then got out of her vehicle, and officers say Hall seized the moment, jumped into that car and drove off.
Investigators also link Hall to a similar Friday-night assault at a Food Lion parking lot in Youngsville, as reported by WRAL. Police say the two incidents form a short but alarming cross-county spree that moved from Franklin County into Wake County in less than a day.
Troopers intercept vehicle near North Hills
State troopers say they spotted the vehicle taken from the Sam’s Club lot near North Hills, then moved in to intercept it. That contact triggered a pursuit into the North Hills shopping district, where the suspect ditched the car and tried to run.
According to authorities, Hall bolted on foot, tackled a security guard in the process and was then taken into custody by troopers. North Hills, a busy mixed-use shopping and dining district in Midtown Raleigh, is profiled by local site This Is Raleigh, which notes its steady stream of shoppers, diners and residents. It is not the kind of place where people expect to see a foot chase unfold between parked SUVs and brunch crowds.
Charges and custody
According to police, Hall now faces a long list of charges tied to the two incidents. In Youngsville, he is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, malicious assault in secret, assault inflicting serious injury and injury to personal property. In Wake Forest, he is charged with attempted common-law robbery, larceny of a motor vehicle, two counts of assault on a female and one count of simple assault.
Hall is being held at the Wake County Detention Center without bond and is expected to make his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Monday, per WRAL. General information on the facility and its inmate lookup system is available on the county roster site Wake County Jail.
What the charges could mean
The offenses named by police, including assault with a deadly weapon and assault inflicting serious injury, are laid out in North Carolina criminal law and can carry felony-level penalties depending on the statute and the facts of the case. The legal fine print is detailed in Chapter 14 of the North Carolina General Statutes, which spells out elements, classifications and potential punishments for assault-related crimes: North Carolina General Statutes.
Wake Forest police are asking anyone with information or witness video from the incidents to contact their department. As of Monday morning, the agency had not released additional details beyond the account provided to media.
