Deputies capture armed man wanted after pursuit on the Outer Banks
Authorities on Tuesday morning captured a 29-year-old Currituck County man wanted for pointing a rifle at deputies after a pursuit from Kitty Hawk to Grandy on Monday evening.
Preston Mertes was arrested after a foot chase and “brief hands on event” in Currituck, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to an area hospital for evaluation.
On Monday, the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office took over a pursuit from Dare County deputies about 4:34 p.m. at the Wright Memorial Bridge, with the chase reaching Grandy before deputies deployed spike strips to stop the man’s truck. Officials have not said what initiated the chase.
The truck swerved and wrecked into the ditch line across from Macedonia Church Road, the Currituck Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
That’s when Mertes exited the vehicle “with an assault rifle type weapon in the direction of the deputies pursuing the suspect,” the Currituck Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Five shots were fired and he fled into the woods.
Authorities did not report where Mertes was captured, saying details will be released later.
