Editor

An East Bend man, who led Yadkinville officers on a high-speed chase early Sunday morning, was later arrested and charged with 16 violations.

According to Yadkinville Police Chief Tim Parks, Alex Samuel Jennings, 20, of 4220 Century Oak Ln., initially stopped at a traffic check at U.S. 421 and Sara Lee Boulevard shortly after midnight. But it would be another 10 miles until officers were able to stop the vehicle and its driver with four other passengers, most of them juveniles.

"He actually pulled up to the license check and then pulled off," Parks said Monday afternoon. "It was a pretty good chase. The sad thing is that the others in the car had no way to get him to stop."

When officers were finally able to catch the vehicle, using stop sticks on Center Road to deflate the vehicle's tires, Jennings was arrested and charged with several traffic offenses, including driving while impaired, careless and reckless driving, speeding 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, driving left of center, failure to heed lights and siren, felony flee to elude, stop sign violation and driving with a provisional license.

In addition to the traffic-related offense, Parks said that officers recovered an M-16 assault rifle. Jennings was also charged with having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, possession of liquor for someone under 21 years of age, carrying a concealed weapon, resist, obstruct and delay of a police officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.

Jennings was scheduled to appear Wednesday in Yadkin County District Criminal Court.