Zebulon chase suspect caught in S.C.

Zebulon, N.C. — Zebulon Police Chief Timothy Hayworth said that South Carolina law enforcement officers arrested a man wanted after a police chase Friday in which a Zebulon officer was run over.

Jason Earl Anthony, 32, of 103 Jordan Lane in Wake Forest, was arrested after a carjacking in South Carolina's Greenville County late Friday. Law enforcement discovered that he was wanted by Zebulon police.

Anthony is being held without bond while awaiting extradition to Wake County.

Police said that Anthony was in the driver's seat of a pickup parked at Swift Mart, on Lizard Lick Road, around 2 a.m. Friday. Two officers approached the truck after seeing that it matched a description from an earlier theft at a convenience store.

Police said that when Officer Brandon Atwood leaned into the open front-passenger door, the driver backed up, and the passenger closed the door, pinning Atwood. He was dragged about 15 to 20 feet and fired his gun three times. The passenger then opened the door, freeing Atwood, but the driver ran over him, police said.

State troopers spotted the truck on N.C. Highway 96 and chased it, until it crashed in a ditch off Ferrel Road, police said. Anthony ran, but officers caught three passengers.

Atwood suffered a broken leg and has been released from WakeMed.

Anthony faces charges of attempted murder of a police officer, larceny, resisting, delaying or obstructing arrest, and various traffic offenses.

Police said that his prior criminal history including assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, trafficking heroin and speeding to elude arrest.

Also charged in the case were Terry Lynn Pearce Sr., 43, of 1252 M.C. Wilder Road in Louisburg; Terry Lynn Pearce Jr., 20, of 4510 Momose Tree Lane in Raleigh; and Ashley Elizabeth Jones, 19, of 1980 Spring Drive in Garner. Pearce Sr. faces assault charges for allegedly throwing a propane tank from the back of the truck during the chase.