A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper’s attempt to stop a speeding teenager on U.S. 421 ended Friday night in a head-on collision that killed both drivers, after the fleeing driver crossed into oncoming lanes near the Chatham-Lee County line. Justin Williams, 21, of Raeford, was driving in the correct direction when his car was struck around 8:47 p.m.; Eric Wheeler, 19, of Waldorf, Maryland, the driver being pursued, also died in the crash. A passenger in Williams’ vehicle was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
According to cbs17.com, a trooper first tried to stop Wheeler after clocking him driving 92 mph in a 65-mph zone near the Chatham-Lee County line. Wheeler failed to stop for the patrol car’s lights and siren, and troopers launched a pursuit. The same report, cited by ABC11 News, says the passenger was taken to UNC Chapel Hill and was suffering from non-life-threatening injuries.
The chase that followed took a convoluted and ultimately fatal path. Wheeler left U.S. 421 for secondary roads before rejoining the northbound lanes, then made a U-turn and used a median crossing to begin driving south directly into oncoming northbound traffic. That is where his vehicle struck Williams’ car head-on, killing both men.
A Pattern Highway Patrol Has Faced Scrutiny Over Before
This was not an isolated tragedy in North Carolina’s recent pursuit history. State trooper-led chases climbed by more than 130 percent between 2019 and 2022, according to the same reporting, and the number of Highway Patrol pursuits rose from 454 in 2019 to 1,061 in a later year referenced in the outlet’s analysis. Speeding, the same violation that triggered Friday’s pursuit, accounted for 63 percent of Highway Patrol pursuits in 2021, the outlet found…