For the second time in 3 months, a high-speed chase ends in deadly crash at Spring Lake intersection

A high-speed chase ended with a deadly crash in Cumberland County just before midnight Saturday.

The crash happened near the intersection of North Bragg Boulevard and McKenzie Road.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol said a trooper clocked a 2012 Acura going 110 miles per hour on NC-87 in Harnett County. The trooper took off after the speeding Acura but could not get the driver to stop.

The chase came to an end when the Acura crashed into Honda Accord making a left turn from NC-87 onto McKenzie Road. The Acura then careened into a nearby utility pole and caught fire.

The drivers of both cars were rushed to the hospital. The passenger in the Honda died at the scene; their identity has not been released.

Troopers identified the speeding driver as 25-year-old Darren Lyndell Obatala Powell. Charges against Powell are still pending; investigators said they believed he was intoxicated when the crash happened.

Powell was previously arrested in connection to a murder on July 12, 2023. He was released from jail Oct. 27, 2023 on a $350,000 bond.

This deadly high-speed crash happened in the same spot as another police chase just three months ago . In that crash, NC State Highway Patrol officers began chasing a suspect from Harnett County on NC-87 too.

The engine block from the suspected stolen vehicle landed in a parking lot nearly 100 yards from the crash scene in Spring Lake.