An SUV transporting North Carolina’s House speaker on a Raleigh-area highway was repeatedly struck by another vehicle, according to an Associated Press report. A man driving a pickup truck was detained about six miles down the road and later charged with impaired driving.
Speaker Tim Moore, Rep. David Willis (R-Union County) and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Gurley were returning to Raleigh after attending political events in Wilson. Moore’s security officer was driving the SUV west on U.S. Highway 64 around 9:30 p.m. Friday when it was rammed from behind at least three times, the speaker told reporters.
The pickup’s driver, whom the state’s highway patrol identified as James Brogden, 38, of Goldsboro — hit the wrong vehicle Friday. The SUV transporting the speaker was driven by a General Assembly police officer, according to the report. Officer Jason Perdue lit up the unmarked vehicle’s emergency lights and pursued the pickup for several miles until it stopped. State troopers and sheriff’s deputies also arrived at the scene, the report noted.
Brogden was transported to WakeMed hospital for evaluation before being sent to the Wake County Detention Center where he was charged, according to police.
Moore praised Officer Perdue for controlling the SUV after it was struck on a road with a posted 70 mph speed limit. The speaker said the pickup truck’s driver stopped in the left lane of the highway about six miles down the road from where they last collided. No one in the SUV driving the speaker was hurt, Moore spokesperson Demi Dowdy said.
“Thank God we’re all just all right,” Moore said, adding there is no evidence he or his vehicle was targeted due to politics or his role in government. The SUV didn’t appear severely damaged, according to the AP report.
“Many of us have been rear-ended by a car unfortunately in the past,” Moore said. “But when you’re moving at highway speeds and another car approaches you at higher rate of speed and it hits the car … you can imagine the kinds of things that are going through your mind at that point and its intention.”
In addition to impaired driving, Brogden was charged with speeding to elude arrest, hit and run, failure to reduce speed, resisting an officer and property damage, according to the state’s highway patrol.
He was released from jail after posting a $500 bail bond, according to an Axios report.
The case is under review and additional charges are possible, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said.
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