Raleigh joyride ends in crash, arrests

Police said staff at Mitchell Mill Motors, on Forestville Road, reported Wednesday morning that four vehicles had been stolen: a 2002 Honda Accord, a 2007 Lexus RX350, a 2005 Lexus RX330 and a 2005 Honda Pilot.

Officers spotted the four stolen vehicles shortly before midnight at Raleigh Boulevard and Skycrest Drive, police said. The drivers split in different directions when officers tried to stop them.

Officers didn't chase the vehicles but followed in the direction that the Honda Pilot had gone.

Police said the SUV crashed into a power pole at 3124 Brentwood Road, then into a minivan parked in a driveway. The impact flipped the minivan.

The driver ran from the SUV, leaving behind two female passengers, Mylasai Howard, 18, and Shakeera Johnson, 19, police said. The women told officers they had been kidnapped, but police said they are friends with the driver, identified as Ricky Butler, 24.

It took officers less than 10 minutes to track down Butler, who was walking less than a mile away at a Handee Hugo's gas station.

Meanwhile, police said, the driver of the Honda Accord – identified as Kendrick Lewis, 16 – ditched the car on Burgundy Street, near North Raleigh Boulevard, and ran. Officers tracked Lewis to the North Millbanks Court Apartments complex, at 1500 N. Raleigh Blvd.

In the complex's parking lot, officers also found the stolen Lexus RX350, police said. Police haven't found the fourth stolen vehicle.

Police said that Lewis was also found with property stolen during a home burglary on Quince Drive Wednesday evening. He was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen goods and resisting an officer.

Butler was charged with failure to appear in court, possession of a stolen vehicle and receiving stolen goods. He was also served with an outstanding warrant for driving with a revoked license.

Both were placed in the Wake County jail under separate $27,500 bonds.

Police said the women could be charged with filing a false police report.