Police say the man who was killed robbed the Stonehenge branch of WachoviaBank in North Raleigh. Raleigh police chased a rental car at high speedsalong busy highways. In the car were the suspect, a woman driving, andanother woman in the passenger seat.
Police chased the suspects south on Six Forks Road, reaching speeds of 90 mph, and onto the Outer Loopof the Interstate 440 Beltline, heading west at 105 to 110 mph. They exitedthe beltline onto U.S. 1 South and continued onto Old U.S. 1into Chatham County.
By that time, Wake County sheriff's deputies and the North CarolinaHighway Patrol had joined the pursuit. There were over a dozen lawenforcement vehicles involved.
Ernest Stuart was a witness to the end of the chase. He told WRAL-TV5'sAmanda Lambthat it was a frighteningsight.
About a half-mile off the exit the vehicle carrying the suspect went outof control and into a ditch on Christian Chapel Road. Police say onefemale ran from the car while the other remained in the driver's seat andscreamed. The male suspect, police say, then came out of hiding with aweapon.
The highway patrol says Trooper Anthony Scott of its Pittsboro division stood on top of another vehicle and ordered thesuspect to drop his weapon. When the suspect failed to do so, the trooperssay Scott, a three-year veteran of the Patrol, then fired a shot orshots, killing the man in the car. Police are withholding his name untilrelatives are notified.
There were other shots fired by law enforcement officers, but no one hassaid whether the suspect fired any shots. Trooper Scott Piralla wasinjured when he hit his head on the suspects' car as he tried to preventit from leaving. His injury was not serious.
Highway Patrol Captain Charles Pearce said there were several shotsfired.
Police have charged the female suspects, Cynthia Ann Passmore, 35,of Forestville, Md., and Michelle Peters, 30,of Washington, D.C., with robbery and several driving violations.
The State Bureau of Investigation has been called in to assist withinvestigation of the robbery, chase and shooting.
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