Police say a suspect fled on foot and escaped after leading officers on a brief vehicle pursuit where he drove nearly 100 mph and crashed into a tree in Cary.
A Cary Police Department officer was on patrol around 8 p.m. on October 10 in the area of Rawson Bridge Road and Three Oaks Road in Cary.
Cary Deputy Police Chief Scott Naydenoff said the officer attempted to stop a vehicle for a minor traffic violation.
The car was traveling northbound on South Rawson Bridge Road from Three Oaks Road.
The officer activated his emergency lights just north of the intersection with Crystal Lake Avenue and the vehicle refused to stop, Naydenoff said.
The car fled at a high rate of speed and eventually drove straight through the T intersection at Rawson Bridge Road and crashed into the trees.
A criminal complaint said the 2004 Ford Explorer traveled 93 mph in a 45 mph zone.
Naydenoff said the driver fled on foot and was not located following a search that evening.
The offender was identified as Jonathan B. Sawyer, 52, of Round Lake Beach, through a follow-up investigation.
Court records show an arrest warrant has been obtained for Sawyer charging him with aggravated fleeing to elude a police officer, driving while license suspended or revoked enhanced, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a vehicle crash, speeding, disobeying a stop sign, failure to signal, improper lane usage and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
Sawyer was driving on a revoked license and without valid insurance, the complaint said.
He also disobeyed a stop sign and unsafely crossed lane boundaries during the incident, the complaint said.
Sawyer is not in custody yet and an active warrant remains for his arrest.