A 31-year-old man wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now sitting in a Currituck County jail cell without bond after deputies say he tailgated a sheriff's patrol vehicle in a stolen pickup truck, then squared off with an armed deputy behind the tailgate of that same truck at a gas station. The confrontation happened around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday in Currituck County, a rural coastal county that sits at the northern gateway to the Outer Banks.
According to the Charlotte Observer, a deputy first noticed a Ford F-150 pickup following his patrol vehicle at an unsafe distance. The deputy tried to put more space between the two vehicles, but the truck kept closing in, so he turned into a parking lot to see what would happen next — and the truck followed him in. The Observer's Mark Price reported that the truck had been stolen out of neighboring Dare County on Wednesday, the same day as the confrontation.
Once both vehicles stopped, the situation escalated fast. The driver got out and moved behind his own truck, using it as a shield, then reached into his pockets, according to the Currituck County Sheriff's Office. The deputy drew his service weapon and ordered the man to show his hands; instead, the sheriff's office said, the suspect refused to comply and continued moving toward the truck's tailgate.
Standoff Ends at a Gas Station
The confrontation ultimately concluded at a gas station in Currituck County, where a second deputy arrived to help make the arrest. The suspect resisted, and deputies used a Taser to take him into custody, per the sheriff's office's account relayed by the Observer. A knife and what investigators described as another tool that appeared to be modified for use as a weapon were both found where the driver had been standing, the sheriff's office said.
The Currituck County Sheriff's Office released the details in a news release issued Friday. Currituck County sits roughly 185 miles northeast of downtown Raleigh in the far northeastern corner of the state along the Virginia line, and it shares a border with Dare County, where the truck was reported stolen — the two counties form a connected stretch of the Outer Banks travel corridor along U.S. Route 158.
A Long List of Charges, and a Federal Hold
The man now faces felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, along with felony larceny of a motor vehicle and felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Under North Carolina law, assault with a deadly weapon on a government official is a Class F felony, according to CaseMine, while the two vehicle theft charges are both Class H felonies punishable by up to 39 months in prison, per the North Carolina statutes cited by DeMent Askew.
He also faces resisting a public officer, driving while license revoked, reckless driving, following too closely, and possession of an open container. He is being held without bond, and he is subject to an ICE detainer for deportation, the sheriff's office said.
Why He's Being Held Without Bond
The ICE hold traces back to North Carolina House Bill 10, which took effect in late 2024 and requires all 100 county sheriff's departments in the state to cooperate with federal immigration detainer requests, according to the North Carolina Criminal Law Blog. That same legal analysis notes an ICE detainer is an administrative request, backed by an administrative warrant, asking local jails to hold someone for up to 48 hours from the detention facility’s receipt of the detainer and administrative warrant.
It's not the first time Currituck County deputies have dealt with a dangerous pursuit situation. In February 2025, a high-speed pursuit involving Currituck County deputies led to charges. And in September 2024, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry after a Currituck County deputy fired his service weapon during a pursuit involving reckless drivers in the Coinjock community, as reported by the Outer Banks Voice.
The case also echoes a recent arrest just across the county line. Earlier this month, Kill Devil Hills police in Dare County arrested a 62-year-old man who was also held under an ICE detainer alongside separate state charges — another sign of how frequently local Outer Banks arrests are now intersecting with federal immigration enforcement under the state's new detainer law.
