The suspect has been identified as 32-year-old Gregory Lamont Evans of Durham. Police said he was a suspect in several previous break-ins at the same location, and numerous charges are pending.
According to police, uniformed Cary officer Lt. Mark B. Parker was working an off-duty surveillance assignment at Piedmont Research, Inc., on Gateway Centre Drive, when he observed a burglary in progress about 2:30 a.m.
Parker called for assistance and then challenged the burglar. The suspect, who was dragging a bag of stolen property, ran to a vehicle parked outside the building and attempted to start the car in an apparent effort to escape.
Parker, who was chasing the suspect on foot, reported that the suspect was leaning over in the car and making furtive movements out of the officer's line of complete sight.
According to police, Parker, fearing for his safety, fired a round from his duty weapon and struck the suspect's left rear tire. The suspect then started his vehicle and fled the scene but was spotted by Cary police headed east on Interstate 40.
After losing control of his vehicle near the Harrison Avenue exit, the suspect ran into some nearby woods.
A search for the suspect by the Cary and Morrisville police departments was under way when the Wake County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a suspicious person at a residence off Reedy Creek Road near Umstead Park. Wake County deputies responding to the call located the suspect and took him into custody.
The suspect was then turned over to Cary police. After questioning, Evans will be taken to Wake County Public Safety Center for processing.
While en route to assist after Parker's call for assistance, another Cary officer, Bobby Pasternak, lost control of his police car on Evans Road near West Cary Middle School and struck a tree. Pasternak was transported to Wake Medical Center in Raleigh and was expected to be released later Tuesday.
The police car was extensively damaged in the accident.
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