03:47 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Associated Press
One person was killed Wednesday when a man driving a stolen vehicle through three counties struck as many as six pedestrians intentionally, law enforcement officials said.
The suspect, wearing a white T-shirt and boxer shorts, reportedly stole a van from the city of Fayetteville shortly before 8 a.m. Fayetteville police said.
Over the next hour and 45 minutes, the suspect drove north to a town just south of Raleigh, apparently going out of his way to hit pedestrians, according to the Fayetteville police and the state highway patrol.
Fayetteville police said the one person known to have been killed was found pinned under the stolen van, though it was not clear when or where that person was struck.
The suspect was eventually arrested in the town of Fuquay-Varina, where he had driven a pickup truck that he apparently stole from one of the victims after ditching the van. By early afternoon, he was in the custody of Fayetteville police, who were trying to identify him.
"It looks like he pulled into neighborhoods looking for people," said Fayetteville police Lt. Katherine Bryant, adding that police did not know his motivation. "He didn't stay on main streets."
She said a maintenance department employee had started the van to warm up the engine and then left it. No one saw the suspect take the van, although people had seen him in the area earlier, Bryant said.
One victim was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill after being struck in Cumberland County, when the van drove partially over a curb. The victim's condition was not immediately available.
The first victim, identified as David McCaskill, was hit with within minutes of the van being stolen at 7:58 a.m., Fayetteville police said. McCaskill, who is in his 70s, was walking his dog, police said.
The suspect tried to put the van in reverse and run over McCaskill a second time, but missed, police said. The driver reportedly then got out of the van and beat McCaskill with his hands, then fled in the van when neighbors came out of their houses.
McCaskill was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The second victim, the man who was airlifted to Chapel Hill, was struck a few minutes later, police said. A motorist found him lying in the road.
Around 8:20, the van reportedly struck a third person near the Cumberland County town of Bienville. That person suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Shortly after 9 a.m., the van was reported on U.S. 401, which runs from Cumberland County north through Harnett County. The van was next spotted in Dunn in Harnett County at 9:40 a.m.
At some point while he was driving the van, the suspect also struck a fourth victim, killing that person.
The driver then apparently abandoned the van and stole a 1997 Chevy pickup truck, driving to Linden in Cumberland County, where he may have struck a fifth person, police said. That victim sustained minor injuries.
The driver next was spotted in Fuquay-Varina, where he struck another vehicle and landed in a ditch. The town's fire chief saw the man, still wearing underwear, walking along a road.
When a police car arrived, the suspect fled on foot and eventually was tackled in nearby woods, interim Fuquay-Varina police Chief Jerry Phillips said.
The van was later found back in Cumberland County.
Fuquay-Varina police declined to comment on the arrest.
Sgt. Everett Clendenin, a spokesman for the state Highway Patrol, said his agency believes as many as six pedestrians may have been struck during the rampage.
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