NCHP: Charlotte man dies in Rockingham wreck during trooper pursuit

ROCKINGHAM — A Mecklenburg County man died over the weekend after he reportedly crashed into a tractor-trailer while leading a trooper in a pursuit.

According to the N.C. State Highway Patrol, a trooper conducted a traffic stop of a 2017 Ford Fusion for a headlight violation near the intersection of U.S. 74 Business and Biltmore Drive on Sunday, Sept. 22.

The trooper made contact with the driver and reportedly “noticed signs of impairment during the investigation.”

The driver, identified as Robert Earl Jones of Charlotte, reportedly fled the scene and led the trooper on a one-minute pursuit through town, ending in a crash with a tractor-trailer at the intersection of U.S. 74 Business and U.S. 220.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Highway Patrol. Neither the driver of the tractor-trailer nor the trooper were injured and there was no damage to the patrol vehicle.

The name of the trooper was not released in initial information from the Highway Patrol.

This is the second fatal pursuit involving the Highway Patrol in Richmond County this year.

In July, 26-year-old Stephon Ramon La-vonn Bennett of Laurel Hill reportedly lost control of his vehicle during a short chase, ran off the road to the right and struck the retaining wall in front of Crawford Law Office and the vehicle caught fire.

Bennett was also suspected of driving impaired.

UPDATE: The trooper involved in this weekend’s fatal pursuit was Trooper W.A. Maynor, according to the Highway Patrol.

Updated 12:57 p.m. 9-25-24