An Edgecombe County deputy died in a crash Sunday evening while trying to make a traffic stop, Sheriff Clee Atkinson said Monday.
Tarboro, N. C. — An Edgecombe County deputy died in a crash Sunday evening while trying to make a traffic stop, Sheriff Clee Atkinson said Monday.
Deputy David L. Manning, 24, had worked for the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office for only five months.
Manning spotted a traffic violation by a Nissan Altima on N. C. Highway 111 north of Pinetops shortly after 6 p.m. and made a U-turn to follow the car, Atkinson said.
His patrol car then collided with a Chevrolet Silverado, and he was killed in the crash, the sheriff said. The two people in the pickup suffered serious injuries that weren’t life-threatening, he said.
The identities of the two injured people weren’t released.
The Altima ran off the highway into a ditch less than a quarter-mile south of the collision, and the driver fled the area on foot, Atkinson said.
The sheriff’s office and local police departments brought in K9 units to search the area for the Altima driver but couldn’t locate the person.
The State Highway Patrol is investigating Manning’s collision.
„It’s a sad day for us, and we ask that everyone across the state and in Edgecombe County pray for us,“ Atkinson said.
