A crash after a chase involving Garner police overnight is the latest of several recent police chases in central North Carolina.

The number of chases involving the State Highway Patrol has more than doubled in recent years:

• In 2019, there were 454 chases
• In 2022, there were 1,053 chases

Across the U.S., federal data shows deaths associated with chases have also increased in recent years.

Law enforcement leaders said the tactic is often necessary to make the streets safer.

WRAL News spoke with Barbara Mickens last year after her cousin Thaddeus Mickens was killed on his way to work in 2022. Thaddeus was simply a bystander at the crash on U.S. Highway 301 near Intersatte 95 in Kenly. He was 56.

“You don’t have to chase this woman through town,” Mickens said.

At the time, state troopers were chasing after a woman for speeding.

In 2022, there were 24 people killed in chases across North Carolina. Half of those – 12 – were innocent bystanders like Thaddeus Mickens.

WRAL News asked retired law enforcement officer and former Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison if he thinks state troopers use proper discretion when deciding when to chase a suspect.

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Harrison said. “I believe in … the chase policy, is it dangerous? Absolutely.”

Harrison was a state trooper before he served as Wake County sheriff from 2002-2018. He sees pursuits as a necessary part of policing.

From 2019 to 2022, state trooper-led chases increased more than 130%.

The State Highway Patrol was not available for an interview on Wednesday, but a spokesperson said the agency didn’t see any strong correlations for the increase.

“It’s a hard call to make, and, you’ve got to look at why you’re chasing them,” Harrison said.

The State Highway Patrol’s pursuit policy has 18 pages outlining the difficult decisions. It factors in everything from weather conditions to the danger to the public created by the person they’re chasing.

“It is hard to do. I’m not going stand here and tell you that it’s not,” Harrison said. “The sad part of the chases, it’s not you the trooper or the sheriff or the police officer you’re thinking about or the guy trying to get away from you.

“You’re thinking about you, the family riding down the street.

Harrison said troopers and other law enforcement officers across the state go through rigorous training to try and make this maneuver as safe as possible.

Harrison said he feels the only way pursuits will go down are if penalties go up for fleeing from law enforcement.

Right now, if someone is caught running from police, they could face up to a Class H felony, which typically receives just a few months in jail.

RALEIGH, N.C. — (WRAL) — A blind North Carolina woman was put in a frightening situation this weekend after an Uber driver dropped her off at the wrong location — and left her there.

WRAL-TV’s Shaun Gallagher spoke with the woman Monday, and she said it has her questioning everything.

Raleigh resident Kamille Richardson said she was trying to go to a Verizon store to get a new phone. But when the Uber driver stopped, she could tell something wasn’t right.

As a blind woman, it’s important for Richardson to be able to do things on her own. Blind since birth, she has handled everything life has thrown her way… with one exception.

“I always said the only thing I cannot do is drive,” Richardson said. For that, she relies on ride sharing services like Uber.

Sunday afternoon, she requested an Uber to drive her to the Verizon store. Richardson said she has a note in her profile that she’s blind.

“Also I have a white cane, so it also lets people know that I am blind,” she said. The driver walked her to a door, but she said she knew something wasn’t right.

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“He says ‘oh, okay, we’re here. We’re at Verizon store,’” Richardson said. “So we get out, and we’re walking. And I say, ‘sir, are you sure? I don’t think we’re at the Verizon store.’”

Instead of being dropped off at the Verizon store, Richardson was at an apartment complex, more than a mile north of the store.

“And I say ‘this is not the right place,’ and he says, ‘well, I have somebody I gotta pick up at the airport,’ and he takes off and runs away,” Richardson said.

Richardson was left all alone at the wrong location – essentially, in the dark.

“I couldn’t even tell you what I was near,” she said. “I didn’t know the vicinity. He just dropped me and ran away. Now mind you, I’m still standing here at this random door. I have no idea where I am. And so I walk away from the door as fast as I can because again, I don’t I don’t know where I am. And this guy just left me standing there stranded, terrified.”

She said she ended up calling 911 for help. By the time police officers got to her, she said she was in tears.

“I had no idea where I was. And so the trauma of it all was a lot for me,” Richardson said. “And thank thank goodness for the police. They found me and they helped me get where I was trying to go, which was to that Verizon store.”

Richardson said when the police officers were driving her, they said she was a good five minutes away from the Verizon store.

“That is one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through,” she said. “How could you just abandon somebody like that knowing good and well that I was not in the right spot?

“I never felt as alone and as vulnerable as I did yesterday. It’s the first time where I really felt like my life can be in danger because I’m blind.”

Richardson said she trusts that people, like her Uber driver, will be honest with her.

“I’m putting my trust in someone, and I’m trusting that you’re going to tell me exactly where I am,” she said. “I’m trusting that you are not going to lie to me and insist that I’m somewhere that I know I’m not. I’m trusting you to have the decency and the humanity to help me out of the situation.”

Richardson, who is a business owner, said she’s always trying to spread awareness.

“I’m all about teaching about inclusion and how to create inclusive environments,” she said. “So I always am spreading awareness being that advocate for the blind or visually impaired and really people with disabilities in general.

“It happens to people all the time who are blind who have a disability. It happens to us all the time… my story is not the only story, and that’s why I’m doing this because I want to bring awareness to this issue. And I want Uber to take some sort of accountability.”

Aviance Brown, a local attorney, said she and Richardson want to hold Uber accountable so this doesn’t continue to happen.

“This is not the first time where folks with disabilities have been placed in a vulnerable situation,” Brown said. “It happens every day.”

Brown said they’re looking for Uber to make changes so people with disabilities are not put in vulnerable positions.

WRAL reached out to Uber for comment on this situation, and a spokesperson provided the following response:

“Kamille’s experience is frustrating and we are continuing to investigate. We have been in contact with her and issued a refund for the trip.”

Richardson said she had plans to go out of town Monday, but this whole incident has her so shaken up that she pushed her plans back. She said she doesn’t feel comfortable hopping back into an Uber just yet.

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Storms Tuesday moved through central North Carolina and produced heavy rain and tornado warnings.

Heavy rain hit Wake County and surrounding counties, causing crashes and backing up traffic for several hours in Cumberland County.

Wake County was under a flash flood warning during the storms, with some areas reporting at least two inches of rain and minor street flooding.

One accident brought U.S. 64 near the Walnut Street exit to a standstill.

The weather also caused a crash between a car and a small school bus in Holly Springs.

Wind and apparent tornadoes also made a mess around central NC.

The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Cumberland and Sampson counties Tuesday. Both warnings were over by 8:15 p.m.

Several residents on Facebook reported seeing a “small tornado’ touch down in Columbus County on Old Lumberton Road and Red Store Road.. The National Weather Service has not confirmed if a tornado touched down during the storms Tuesday.

In Red Springs in Robeson County, several residents reported downed trees, including a local fire department in the county.

A trees also fell around Orange County. Around 6:30 p.m., a tree blocked Miller Road near Greetree road in Hillsborough.

Residents are now cleaning up and bracing for more rain tomorrow, as central North Carolina will be under a level 1 risk for severe weather on Wednesday.