Couple suspected of breaking into cars at Concord Mills caught in Richfield after high-speed chase
Published 11:49 am Wednesday, May 30, 2018
By Ritchie Starnes
Stanly News and Press
RICHFIELD — A three-county chase ended in the Richfield area Monday afternoon when the driver crashed a rented Mercedes Benz, then fled on foot.
Authorities captured Michael Bernard Williams, 31, and Katrina Nicole Rasul, 29, both of South Carolina, a short time after they fled. Both are facing multiple charges, including 16 felonies related to breaking and entering vehicles and the theft of debit and credit cards, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Concord police alerted the Highway Patrol about 11:30 a.m. that the suspects were headed northbound on Interstate 85 after they were seen breaking into vehicles at Concord Mills shopping center, said Sgt. R.D. Mendenhall of the Highway Patrol.
Troopers in Rowan County spotted the suspects getting off the interstate. A trooper pulled in behind them after they turned into a driveway, and they sped away through the residence’s backyard and neighboring yards. A chase ensued, Mendenhall said.
A high-speed chase followed into Rockwell, then into Stanly County, with the suspects traveling at speeds of more than 110 mph at times.
The suspects avoided stop sticks officers set out at three locations, including Ward Street in Misenheimer, Mendenhall said.
While on Finger Road, they tried to turn left onto Misenheimer Road at an estimated speed of 92 mph. The 2018 Mercedes sport utility vehicle veered off the right side of the road and down an embankment before the man and woman fled on foot at 12:01 p.m., according to the report.
Once they had the suspects in custody, authorities found the suspects had ditched bags of property purchased with the stolen debit and credit cards, reports stated.
Mendenhall said Williams had an Orangeburg, South Carolina, address on his driver’s license but lives in Florida.
The Mercedes SUV was registered as a rental in Georgia but had a fictitious North Carolina license plate.
Mendenhall said it’s not uncommon for suspects to use rental vehicles with fictitious plates to commit crimes along the interstate corridor.
Along with the Highway Patrol, the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office and Misenheimer police assisted with the chase. A sheriff’s K-9 unit helped locate the suspects.