61-year-old Jimmy Carl Wyatt of Morganton was arrested Wednesday (April 5) by Morganton Public Safety Officers. He’s charged with felony flee to elude arrest with a motor vehicle. Wyatt was also charged with speeding, fail to heed light or siren, reckless driving to endanger, fail to stop for a steady red light, driving without two headlamps, and fail to maintain lane control.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, a Morganton Public Safety Officer initiated a traffic stop for headlight and stoplight violations. The driver of the vehicle, Jimmy Carl Wyatt, reportedly refused to stop, resulting in a chase with police.

The vehicle struck stop sticks four separate times and continued to travel on Interstate 40 eastbound at moderate speeds with one tire intact. The pursuit was eventually terminated by Morganton Public Safety and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol continued to follow the vehicle until it came to a stop off the roadway near Exit 170 in Davie County.

Police reports say Wyatt jumped out of the vehicle and fled into the woods and was quickly located by the Highway Patrol. The suspect was placed in jail in Morganton under $15,000 secured bond. He remained in jail as of earlier today (April 6). A District Court date is set for April 17 in Morganton.