By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A local man is accused of carjacking a vehicle outside a Walgreens drugstore and crashing into other vehicles while trying to get away.

The Salisbury Police Department charged Clayton Garrett Byers, 37, whose address is listed as the streets of Salisbury, with felony fleeing to elude arrest, felony larceny of a motor vehicle, misdemeanor resisting an officer, and misdemeanor failure to appear in court.

The carjacking occurred just after 6 p.m. Tuesday at the store, 1505 E. Innes St.. The victim said she was getting into her Range Rover when she saw a man in her car. She tried to grab her keys and got out of the car. She yelled at the man to get out of her car, and two Rowan County sheriff’s deputies who were at the store heard her.

The deputies tried to apprehend the suspect, later identified as Byers, but he jumped into the driver’s side and took off. According to a report, Byers struck a barrier. Another customer tried to block him with his vehicle, but Byers moved around him, struck a large rock and drove away.

The deputies pursued the vehicle, as did a Salisbury police officer who responded to the 400 block of Pinewood Avenue. The officer spotted a man matching the description of Byers who was sitting on the steps of a Fair Bluff Avenue home.

Byers remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under an $82,500 secured bond.

Byers has been convicted of a number of misdemeanors, including possession of drug paraphernalia, larceny, carrying a concealed weapon and driving while impaired.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.