Prosecutor: Man who shot cars on I-95 faces federal charge

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A driver accused of firing gunshots at random cars on a North Carolina highway over the weekend, shooting one person, is facing a federal firearms charge, a prosecutor announced Thursday.

Franklin Joseph Dangerfield, 33, of Ladson, South Carolina, is charged with possessing an unregistered short-barrel shotgun, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr., said in a news release. Dangerfield was arrested after a high-speed chase that began Saturday evening in southern North Carolina’s Nash County and ended across the North Carolina-Virginia state line.

Dangerfield was scheduled to appear in federal court in Raleigh on Thursday. It wasn’t known whether he has an attorney who could comment.

Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said during a news conference Sunday that authorities began pursuing Dangerfield after receiving calls Saturday about an erratic driver firing a weapon on Interstate 95.

Stone said speeds reached 110 miles per hour (177 kph) before the pursuit ended near Emporia, Virginia, when the suspect lost control of his pickup truck, struck the median and partially rolled the vehicle.

Higdon said one person was shot in the shoulder and another person was hit in the face by shattered glass.

A Nash County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s marked vehicle was damaged and the deputy received treatment for injuries that were not life-threatening.