Durham police seek carjacking suspect

Durham police were searching Friday for a man who led officers on a chase and carjacked a vehicle near downtown late Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Durham Police Department identified the man as Kenneth Lee Bailey Jr., 21, of Durham, and shared a mug shot that showed an African-American man with close-cropped hair and a light mustache.

Investigators say officers attempted to pull Bailey over for suspected drunk driving on Liberty Street near Railroad Street at about 9:15 p.m., when he led officers on a chase that ended in a crash at Mangum and Morgan streets, where he drove his car through the stone walls of Rotary Park.

Two women and a child were in Bailey's car, and they were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries that didn’t appear to be life-threatening.

Following the crash, investigators say Bailey ran to a McDonald’s on Morgan Street, where he carjacked a pickup truck from the parking lot. The truck was found abandoned a short time later on Hargrove Street.

Bailey has previous criminal convictions dating to 2009 on drug charges and was convicted in 2011 for possession of stolen goods and carrying a concealed weapon.

Charges against Bailey are pending, police said.

Anyone with information about where he might be is asked to call the Durham Police Department at 919-560-4322.