Chase nets arrest
Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 25, 2006
AULANDER – One man’s time on the lam came to an end Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to an anonymous tip, Aulander Police Chief Mike Patterson apprehended 21-year-old Brian O’Neal Powell, a subject he had been seeking on three warrants for the past six months.
The arrest didn’t come easily, however, as Powell fled the scene after the vehicle, in which he was a passenger, was stopped on N.C. 11 near the former ABC Store.
According to Patterson, he received an anonymous tip Sunday afternoon saying Powell was a passenger in a white Honda Civic which was headed for Aulander.
He initiated a stop on the vehicle on N.C. 11 and removed the driver from the car.
“I then realized Brian Powell was in the passenger seat and went to the passenger’s side of the vehicle,” Chief Patterson said.
According to the chief, Powell switched to the driver’s side of the car and, when Patterson moved back to that side, he switched again. After the incident happened a third time, Powell allegedly drove off in the car with three minors in the vehicle.
Patterson pursued the car to Commerce Street in Aulander and then into the Blanchard Mobile Home Park where Powell stopped the vehicle after nearly hitting a mobile home and fled.
“Once he jumped and ran, I called for help,” Patterson said. “We were able to get information about where he was. He was in a house three blocks away and was then arrested without incident.”
Powell, who had been sought on three charges, now faces a laundry list of counts thanks to the Sunday afternoon incident. He is currently in the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail under a $135,350 cash bond.
Powell is charged with felony speeding to allude arrest, driving while license revoked, failure to stop for blue light and siren, speeding 95 miles per hour in a 55 zone, careless and reckless driving, three misdemeanor counts of child abuse, three counts of resist, obstruct and delay, two probation violations, one child support warrant and failure to register as a sex offender. The final three charges were the warrants on which he was being sought.
“It’s good to finally make this arrest,” Chief Patterson said. “He’s been running for a while and we’re glad to finally get our hands on him.
“When we finally arrested him, he said he was done running,” Patterson added.
The chief expressed appreciation to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office, the N.C. Wildlife Commission, Williamston Police Department K-9 Unit, Lewiston Woodville Police Department and the other members of the Aulander Police Department for their assistance.