A North Carolina man wielding a knife tried to mow down pedestrians with a stolen tractor before leading police on a wild chase for several miles, cops said.
Police said they received a call about a “tractor being driven erratically” and intentionally chasing down people in a Boone parking lot Tuesday. The driver struck several cars, a dumpster and even a church, Chief Andy Le Beau said.
Video of the chase shows at least several law enforcement cars pursuing a John Deere tractor as it swerves down a town road, plows through a stop sign and heads into the Route 421 intersection.
At least 8 cop cars with flashing lights meet at the junction in an effort to stop the farming vehicle, but the tractor continues rushing through the red light.
The entire hours-long chase did not exceed speeds of 20 miles per hour, Watauga Online reported.
“The stolen tractor was being operated by a person who we are very familiar with, Mr. Ronnie Hicks,” Le Beau said.
Officers tried to use stop sticks to halt Hicks as he barreled toward on-coming traffic, but the tire-deflation device was no match for the John Deere.
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Hicks then purposefully rammed into a Boone police car, La Beau alleges, before turning in the direction of the town’s elementary school.
“Determined not to let him get that far,” La Beau gave his officers the go-ahead to shoot out the tractor’s front tire.
Hicks was able to continue driving several more miles without the front tire, but eventually pulled onto a private drive, cops said.
“Mr. Hicks then jumped off the tractor and was wielding a knife,” said La Beau.
An officer deployed a Taser, took Hicks into custody and ended the wild tractor chase.
Cops have not yet announced charges against him.
