PEMBROKE — A Lumberton man was arrested but a second person was able to escape when a car chase that began in Laurinburg and reached speeds exceeding 100 mph ended with a crash in Pembroke on Monday.
Steven Jacobs, 37, of 184 Seals Drive, is charged with misdemeanor larceny and is being held under a $1,500 bond, according to Lt. Cliff Sessoms of the Laurinburg Police Department. Sessoms said that Jacobs was the passenger in a gold Ford Taurus and police are looking for Christopher L. Locklear, 33, of 480 Lumbee Ave., also of Lumberton, whom they say was driving the car. He will face charges of misdemeanor larceny and felony fleeing arrest with a motor vehicle.
The chase, which include Laurinburg, Maxton and Pembroke police and Robeson County sheriff’s deputies, began after Laurinburg police responded to a call about a theft from the store at about 7 p.m. from Lowe’s Home Improvement at 910 N.C. 401, Laurinburg.
According to Sessoms, Laurinburg police saw the Taurus leaving the store and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused. The chase followed U.S. 74 from Laurinburg to Pembroke, when the Taurus exited on U.S. 74 Business and shortly afterward crashed into the Robeson County Farm Bureau Insurance store at 710 E. Third St.
Pembroke Police Chief Grant Florita said two people exited the car and fled. Florita said that Pembroke police arrested Jacobs, who was trying to hide in a school bus at Pembroke Elementary School, which is less than a half a mile away from the crash. Jacobs did not appear to have suffered any injuries.
The second person, whom Sessoms identified as Locklear, was able to escape.
Sessoms said police recovered a tool kit that had been stolen from Lowe’s Home Improvement that was valued at $785.
Matthew Adams, the office manager at Farm Bureau Insurance, said that the office was closed at the time of the accident and that no one was injured. Adams said that the vehicle crashed into the right side of the store and busted exterior vinyl blocks. Damages were estimated to be about $2,500 to $3,000, according to Adams.
The office is open.
So easily could have been some ones wife killed in a wreck.