Man flees, leaves children during traffic stop

Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Gordon said Lamonte Smith, 24, of 1213 Raleigh Blvd. in Raleigh, left his 4-year-old son and a 2-year-old girl in the back of his car when he fled authorities after being pulled over on U.S. Highway 64 Business at Rolesville Road.

Gordon said the vehicle was pulled over for having expired tags. Smith, who did not have a driver's license with him, fled when the trooper went back to the patrol vehicle to run his information. 

Smith is an absconder from probation with past convictions of larceny and shoplifting. 

Authorities said Smith disappeared from the road into a nearby wooded area. Officers used dogs to help search for him. 

The children were released into the custody of their mother.