JENNA-LEY HARRISON
Staff Writer
A convicted felon who led area law enforcement officers on two separate vehicular chases this month now sits in jail under a nearly $300,000 bond.
According to the Gaston County jail website, James Curtis Stewart, 39, of McAdenville, was apprehended just after 8 a.m. Saturday and placed behind bars under a $280,000 secured bond for multiple charges filed against him in Gaston, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties.
Stewart most recently led Cramerton Police on a chase down I-85, I-485 and I-77 southbound around 5:30 a.m. Thursday after officers recognized him and his truck at a Lowell gas station and knew he was wanted in Lincoln for a similar chase nearly a week earlier.
Lincoln deputies said they had stopped Stewart’s truck around 3 a.m. March 1 after thinking it suspicious he was carrying a large amount of scrap metal. After running his tag, deputies discovered he was wanted for obtaining property under false pretenses in Mecklenburg County.
Stewart allegedly fled the scene, forcing deputies to pursue his truck through Charlotte down the same area roadways.
Both chases ended at the South Carolina state border after officers deemed it too unsafe to continue the pursuits in congested traffic.
Charges filed against Stewart include more than one count each of breaking and entering, first-degree trespass, assault with a deadly weapon and larceny along with multiple traffic violations, the jail site showed.
The suspect’s criminal history reflects a slew of similar charges in Gaston County for felony convictions dating back to 1992 for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, breaking and entering, larceny and drug possession, according to public records on the North Carolina Department of Correction website.
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