RCSO: Man charged after leading deputies on chase through Richmond County

ROCKINGHAM — A man reportedly had to be forcibly removed from his vehicle after leading deputies on a chase through Richmond County.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy patrolling on U.S. 1 Tuesday afternoon noticed a truck heading south “at a high rate of speed” — clocked in excess of 80 mph.

The deputy, according to the sheriff’s office, then turned around to conduct a traffic stop.

When the deputy tried to stop the truck, the driver reportedly turned onto L.G. Dewitt Road and “accelerated to high speeds.”

Other deputies joined the pursuit and reportedly chased the driver, later identified as 47-year-old John Wesley Abrams of Rockingham, through the Ledbetter community and back onto U.S. 1, southbound.

As the pursuit neared the city limits of Rockingham, deputies reportedly tried to box in Abrams to slow him down.

Abrams reportedly turned into a neighborhood where deputies were able to get him stopped.

According to the sheriff’s office, Abrams refused to get out of his vehicle and deputies “forced the door open and removed the driver from the truck and took him into custody.”

Abrams is charged with a felony count of fleeing to elude arrest, and misdemeanor counts of resisting a public officer and injury to personal property, as well as multiple traffic citations.

The sheriff’s office also reportedly seized Abrams’ truck pursuant to state law. According to the N.C. Court System, the vehicle could be sold prior to trial “if the accumulated towing and storage charges reach a certain level.”

“After the defendant’s trial, if the vehicle still is subject to the seizure law, a judge will release it to an owner or lienholder, or turn it over (“forfeit” it) to the local school board,” reads the court system website.

Abrams is being held without bond in the Richmond County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 24.

Online court records show Abrams has pending traffic citations in Richmond and Scotland counties including driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, having no insurance and expired tags.

Abrams appears to have no prior convictions in North Carolina.

The sheriff’s office was also involved in a chase on Sunday, Oct. 6.

That pursuit reportedly started near Calvert Street in East Rockingham, went through Hamlet — with the Hamlet Police Department assisting — and ended on a back street in Dobbins Heights.

However, the suspect reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and ran.

All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.