43-year-old Joshua Allen Abee of Pete Brittain Road in Morganton faces charges in connection to an incident on Monday (August 21) with Morganton Public Safety Officers. Charges pending against Abee are trafficking heroin, maintaining a dwelling or place for controlled substance, felony flee to elude arrest, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, simple possession of schedule II controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, reckless driving to endanger, and fail to stop at a steady red light.

On Monday at approximately 1:30 a.m., an officer with the Morganton Department of Public Safety attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a blue Mazda SUV near South Sterling Street and Grace Hospital Parkway due to an equipment violation. As the Officer activated his emergency equipment, the driver of the vehicle began to flee by speeding away and attempting to run a red traffic light at the hospital intersection.

As a result, the SUV was struck by a box truck traveling on South Sterling Street which had a green light in its direction of travel. The impact from the crash sent the Mazda SUV rolling over to the other side of the road where it came to a rest. The Public Safety Officer immediately called for EMS to respond to the scene and went to check the status of the driver.

The driver was injured as a result of the traffic crash and was transported by helicopter to another healthcare facility. As of the last report, the driver, identified as Joshua Allen Abee, was listed in critical condition. The warrants were to be served against Abee once he was medically cleared. A passenger in the vehicle also sustained minor injuries and was released from the scene. The driver of the box truck was uninjured.