ROCKINGHAM — A chase stemming from an alleged stop-sign violation led Richmond County sheriff’s deputies to find a young child and 10 pounds of pot.
A deputy attempted to stop a vehicle Tuesday for a stop-sign violation but instead of pulling over, the driver kept going, according to a press release issued by the sheriff’s office Wednesday.
During the pursuit, investigators say the driver, 29-year-old Decario Antawn McKinnon, of Hamer Mill Road, intentionally struck a patrol car. The deputy in that car was not injured.
The chase, which witnesses say included nearly a dozen deputies, ended at the intersection of Osborne and Ellerbe Grove Church roads.
Deputies say an 18-month-old child was in the back seat during the chase, which reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.
According to investigators, deputies caught a whiff of marijuana coming from the vehicle after McKinnon was taken into custody and the child was secured.
After obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, investigators say they found 10 pounds of suspected marijuana inside.
McKinnon was charged with felony charges of trafficking marijuana, fleeing to elude arrest and assault with a deadly weapon on a government official; misdemeanor charges of child abuse and injury to personal property; and a traffic stop sign violation.
He was also charged with two felony counts of trafficking cocaine from an earlier ongoing investigation.
McKinnon was booked into the Richmond County Jail under a $500,000 secured bond.
Online court records show McKinnon is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 3 on two counts each of selling a Schedule VI controlled substance, delivering a Schedule VI controlled substance and possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule VI controlled substance; one one felony count each of maintaining a vehicle dwelling or place for a controlled substance and conspiring to possess with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule VI controlled substance.
Records with the N.C Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show McKinnon was convicted in Georgia on a felony charge of possession of a Schedule 1 controlled substance in 2016 and was sentenced to nine years, 11 months and 24 days of probation, which he is serving in North Carolina.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
