Babysitter, Toddler Caught In Middle Of Wake High-Speed Chase

The Highway Patrol said troopers were conducting a

Click It Or Ticket

license check on Garner Road around 9:15 a.m. when a white van turned in an attempt to avoid the license check.

The van's driver, Carnell Lamont Hunter, 37, later said he fled the checkpoint because he was driving with a suspended license.

Troopers gave chase and the pursuit reached speeds of 110 mph.

The chase, which began on Garner Road, continued south on N.C. 50, west on N.C. 42 and north on N.C. 41. The van took a left on Johnson Pond Road before ending in a crash at Hilltop-Needmore Road and Autumn Trace in Fuquay-Varina.

"I just saw the van come, and I was shocked. When he hit me, I looked in the rear-view mirrorand saw my teammate swerve around in the road," said a man whose vehicle was clipped by the speeding van.

"I was inside the house and just heard this roar go down the street," resident Marcy Smith said. "About a split second after that I heard another huge roar, which was a state Highway Patrol helicopter go over the house."

The chase ended when Hunter rear-ended a vehicle attempting to turn left into the Autumn Trace subdivision in Fuquay-Varina at 9:29 a.m.

The driver, Ann Elder of Fuquay-Varina, and 2-year-old Julia Silverthorne who Elder was babysitting, suffered minor injuries.Both were transported to a hospital for treatment of cuts.

Hunter is also charged with careless and wreckless driving, speeding to elude arrest and failure to stop. Hunter may face additional charges for crashing into a trooper's cruiser.

The Highway Patrol said the chase was justified because they believed the chase posed a threat to the public.