WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina man is facing charges after allegedly stealing a tractor and crashing into multiple vehicles as he led police on a chase.
A video posted on TikTok shows police with lights and sirens blaring trying to stop the tractor, which swerves back and forth across a road in Watauga County.
“I was really confused,” Mark Denny, who recorded the video, told WSOC. “I was like, ‘What is this guy doing? It’s not safe. There’s kids who play up here. There’s a little school right here.’”
Boone police told WSOC that the chase started near the Three Forks Baptist Church when a man stole a tractor and began driving it recklessly on the highway. Police identified the suspect as Ronnie Hicks and said he hit multiple vehicles with the tractor.
Officers said that Hicks intentionally drove toward vehicles, rammed a police car and hit a dumpster during the pursuit, which maxed out at speeds of 25 to 30 mph, WSOC reported. Boone police were unable to use stop sticks to end the pursuit because of the size of the tractor’s tires.
The pursuit ended when an officer shot one of the tractor’s tires after the vehicle began driving the wrong way on a highway toward a school.
“We were very concerned,” Boone Police Chief Andy Lebeau told WSOC. “Obviously you’ve seen the tractor. It’s a pretty large tractor, so we were concerned for our citizens.”
Police told WSOC that at the end of the pursuit, Hicks jumped off the tractor and began to run away near an elementary school while armed with a knife. Officers used a Taser to take Hicks into custody.
Hicks is facing a list of charges, including driving while intoxicated, assault with a deadly weapon on a government official and stealing a tractor.