Driver in three-county hit-and-run rampage deemed competent for trial

Abdullah El-Amin Shareef, 31, of Raeford, is charged with murder and four counts of attempted murder in the case. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.

Authorities said Shareef stole a city-owned van in Fayetteville on April 14, 2004, and headed north. He hit and injured three men in Fayetteville, then ran over Lonel Bass in Linden, killing him, authorities said.

Shareef abandoned the van, took Bass' pickup truck and continued north, authorities said, running down another man in Harnett County before crashing the truck in Fuquay-Varina, where he was arrested.

Shareef has undergone mental health treatment since his arrest, and entered an insanity plea in 2008.

Judge E. Lynn Johnson ruled Tuesday that he's competent to stand trial and set his trial date for Feb. 8.