Man steals car outside Dollar General but slams into home during chase, NC cops say

A North Carolina man is accused of slamming into a home in a car cops say he stole from outside a Dollar General.

Deputies were called Wednesday to the Dollar General on U.S. 17 Highway North in Ernul after the car was reportedly stolen. A customer said they had left the car running while shopping in the store and that it was gone when they came back outside, according to a news release from the Craven County Sheriff’s Office.

The car was found “within minutes” on Main Street in Vanceboro. But the sheriff’s office said the driver, 33-year-old Demarco Jevon Becton, refused to stop and led deputies on a chase, during which he tried to hit a deputy’s car.

The chase continued down Streets Ferry Road and Piney Neck Road, where Becton crashed into a home, according to the sheriff’s office. He then tried to run away but was “quickly captured.”

“During his arrest the suspect assaulted the deputy,” the sheriff’s office said.

The deputy was not hurt, and EMS treated Becton on the scene.

He is charged with “felony larceny of a motor vehicle, felony possession of a stolen vehicle, felony fleeing to elude law enforcement, felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, felony assault on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving to endanger and injury to real property,” the sheriff’s office said.

Becton is being held in the Craven County Detention Facility on a $400,000 bond and has “over 60 prior charges in Duplin, Craven, Forsyth, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pitt, Wake and Wayne counties,” the sheriff’s office said.

No other information about the incident was released as of Thursday afternoon.

“The Sheriff’s Office encourages citizens not to leave their vehicles unattended and running while they go inside stores,” the news release said.

Craven County is in Eastern North Carolina, about 115 miles from Raleigh.

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