CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two people were arrested after a high-speed police chase that stemmed from alleged shoplifting at a Harrisburg grocery store ended with a crash in Mecklenburg County, investigators said.
The Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office responded to a shoplifting call at the Lowe's Foods in Harrisburg around 7:30 a.m. Friday, officials said. Deputies attempted to pull over a white pickup truck but the driver refused to pull over and the pursuit continued on North Carolina 49 into Mecklenburg County with speeds reaching 90 mph, according to the sheriff's office.
The driver then attempted to make a left turn onto Mark Twain Road, which is across the highway from UNC Charlotte, and ran off the road and drove down an embankment. Two people inside the truck were taken into custody on multiple charges related to the alleged shoplifting and felony speed to elude.
No one was hurt during the incident. The sheriff's office initially said the shoplifting was reported at Publix, however a Publix spokesperson told WCNC Charlotte the incident was at a nearby Lowe's Foods store.
A Department of Justice report published last year urges police to limit unnecessary pursuits, particularly when violent crimes aren't involved. The report recommends that "pursuits should take place only when two very specific standards are met: 1) A violent crime has been committed and 2) the suspect poses an imminent threat to commit another violent crime." The report recommends policies that discourage or prohibit pursuits if the suspect is riding a motorcycle.
"Good police work will find someone who flees from you," pursuit expert Geoff Alpert said at the time. "The person fleeing is at fault, but police are trained and are there to deal with people who aren't making good decisions, can't make good decisions and there's got to be an adult in the room. It's not the person fleeing. It's got to be the police officer."
A 2022 WCNC Charlotte investigation found that at least 4,200 innocent bystanders alone were killed during police pursuits nationwide over the last 40 years. Alpert said those numbers are vastly underreported. He says the data is incomplete because agencies can choose what to report and how they report it.
"We don't have very good statistics, even on our fatalities," he said. "If we don't know the problem, we can't come up with a solution?"
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