HAMLET — A two-county car chase ended in flames on Wiregrass Road late Friday morning.
According to Trooper M. Mack of the N.C. State Highway Patrol, another trooper tried to stop 27-year-old Daquan Murchison of Southern Pines for speeding in Moore County.
Murchison reportedly refused to stop and led troopers down U.S. 1 into Richmond County and turned onto N.C. 177 near Rockingham Speedway.
Mack said he clocked Murchison’s vehicle at around 76 mph near Fox Road and said the chase reached speeds up to 130 mph.
Troopers reportedly lost Murchison in the Dobbins Heights area and resumed the chase on Wiregrass Road.
Mack said Murchison lost control of his vehicle, ran off the road and hit a tree. The defendant reportedly tried to flee on foot but was caught.
The collision sparked a fire and the car was fully engulfed within 10 minutes, according to the trooper.
Richmond County Schools temporarily placed Monroe Avenue Elementary and the Ninth Grade Academy on lockdown until the chase was over, Public Information Officer Jasmine Hager told the RO earlier in the day.
Murchison was taken to a hospital where he was later served warrants charging him with a felony count of fleeing to elude arrest with a motor vehicle and misdemeanor counts of driving while impaired and resisting a public officer. The defendant also faces several traffic infractions.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
