Deputies shot at man armed with machete after hit-and-run

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Law-enforcement officers in North Carolina shot at a man who attacked sheriff’s deputies with a machete and drove his car at a police officer in separate encounters, authorities said.

The Times-News reports that the suspect, Benjamin Michael Morley, was treated for a wound on his left leg after police apprehended him on Friday night.

Police started chasing Morley, 39, of Mooresville, after he allegedly struck a student with his car on the University of North Carolina’s flagship Chapel Hill campus and then drove away, UNC Police Chief David Perry said in a statement. The student didn’t report any injuries.

A UNC officer who tried to stop Morley fired at him as he was backing up and driving toward the officer, the statement said. Morley drove off and disappeared.

Later that night, Alamance County sheriff’s deputies spotted Morley again. Two deputies fired at Morley after he rammed his car into a deputy’s vehicle and then lunged at deputies and swung a machete at them, according to the sheriff’s office.

Morley was charged with three counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official and one felony count of fleeing from police. He was expected to be jailed after his release from the hospital.