A suspected robber who police say bolted from a Walgreens in east Greensboro died Thursday, May 7, after the SUV he was driving crashed on the Phillips Avenue bridge over U.S. 29. Officers found the driver ejected from the vehicle, and he did not survive his injuries. The Greensboro Police Department's Crash Reconstruction Unit is leading the investigation.
According to the Greensboro Police Department, officers were dispatched to an armed-subject call at the Walgreens at 901 East Bessemer Avenue after a reported armed robbery. The suspect left the store in a black SUV and headed north on Summit Avenue. Police say an officer activated blue lights with a brief siren burst during an attempted traffic stop but "chose not to pursue" and continued driving at approximately the speed limit. The department's initial post lays out a step-by-step timeline of what happened next.
Police Account Of Flight And Fatal Crash
"The SUV accelerated and drove off," the department wrote. Officers later found the vehicle on the Phillips Avenue bridge over U.S. 29, where the driver had been ejected and did not survive. Before that, officers reported seeing the SUV pull into a parking lot in the 1100 block of Summit Avenue, then leave that area and continue on until it came to rest on the bridge. The driver's identification is being withheld until next of kin are notified, according to the Greensboro Police Department.
Policy, Pursuits And What Comes Next
Greensboro's vehicle-pursuit policy, revised in prior years to limit chases to more serious violent offenses and to require officers to weigh the risk to public safety, guides both on-scene decisions and post-incident reviews, according to Greensboro Police Department policy documents. Those materials state that pursuit activity has declined since the policy change and that officers receive regular training on pursuit tactics.
The department's newsroom reports that the Crash Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene and that investigators are continuing to gather evidence, asking anyone with information or video of the incident to contact the department.
