HAMLET — A trespassing call turned into a chase for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.
According to a press release issued Friday, patrol deputies responded to a call of someone trespassing on Freeman Mill Road.
While en route, deputies were reportedly informed that the suspect, 42-year-old Shaun Avery Griggs, of Hamlet, had orders for arrest for failing to appear in court on charges of taking indecent liberties with a child and sexual battery.
The first deputy to arrive on scene reportedly made contact with Griggs and attempted to place him under arrest — but Griggs reportedly pulled away and ran to his vehicle.
The deputy tried to pull Griggs from the driver’s seat, according to the sheriff’s office, but Griggs pulled away, “dragging the deputy and knocking him to the ground.”
Griggs reportedly sped off and evaded another deputy’s attempt to stop him. However, according to the sheriff’s office, Griggs lost control of the vehicle and wrecked on Freeman Mill Road, and was taken into custody.
He was served with the outstanding warrants and also charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, fleeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle, resisting a public officer, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while license revoked.
Griggs was booked into the Richmond County Jail where he is being held on a combined $115,000 secured bond. Jail records show he is scheduled to appear April 17 in Richmond County Superior Court April on the sexual abuse charges and April 13 on the other charges.
Online court records show Griggs also has pending charges of larceny of motor vehicle parts, obtaining property by false pretenses and misdemeanor larceny from 2022 as well as several traffic citations from earlier this year.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Griggs was first convicted in 1997 of misdemeanor breaking and entering, followed by misdemeanor larceny in 2002.
In 2007, Griggs was convicted on two counts of possessing stolen goods, which appear to have been upgraded to receiving stolen goods when his probation was revoked the following year, leading to a three-month incarceration.
Griggs was convicted in Moore County in 2011 of delivering or selling a Schedule II controlled substance and in 2012 of selling a Schedule II controlled substance, landing him behind bars for another three months.
His probation was revoked in 2014 when he was convicted of possession of both a Schedule III and Schedule IV controlled substance in Richmond County and he was imprisoned for four months.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
