Robbery suspect caught after fleeing victim's home
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on May 26, 2010 1:46 PM
SEVEN SPRINGS -- A man wanted in Maryland for burglary and theft was arrested Monday on more charges, after a 15-year-old girl saw him walking around her home, called police and hid herself while she waited for them to arrive, authorities said.
Frederick Eugene Drake, 38, of Moyock, N.C., allegedly forced his way into the back of the residence around noon, stealing "several firearms" while the 15-year-old girl had tucked herself out of sight.
Soon afterward, relatives of the home's owners arrived at the house and attempted to block Drake in the driveway, authorities reported.
That caused Drake to ram his vehicle into the homeowner's truck, causing about $2,000 in damages, authorities said.
The suspect was able to flee from the home, but one of the homeowner's relatives flattened a tire on Drake's vehicle, Capt. Tom Effler said.
In the meantime, state Highway Patrol officers and deputies from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office "saturated the area in an attempt to locate the suspect," Effler said.
About 2 p.m., about two hours after the break-in, Wayne County Sheriff's Cpl. Patrick Hux spotted the vehicle on N.C. 403, near the Wayne-Duplin County line, police siad.
Hux was able to stop Drake, and soon discovered that he was wanted in North Carolina's Currituck County for a probation violation.
The Maryland charges, filed by Sheriff's Office employees in Worcester County, included "multiple counts" of burglary and theft, Effler reported in a release.
Drake, of Old Tulls Creek Road, Moyock, faces a number of charges, including felonious breaking and entering, larceny after breaking or entering, possession of stolen property, a probation violation, six counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Maryland fugitive warrants, damage to person property and felony-level breaking and entering and larceny after break or enter in Franklin County, Effler said.