Charlotte police shooting suspect ran from Lincoln County deputies in January
Terry Clark Hughes Jr., the man suspected of killing four law enforcement officers Monday, sped away from Lincoln County deputies in January during a traffic stop, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said in emails to The Charlotte Observer.
Sheriff Bill Beam and his office said a warrant was issued for Hughes for the following crimes:
▪ Felony Flee to Elude
▪ Driving while License Revoked
▪ Aggressive Driving
▪ Resisting a Public Officer
▪ Speeding
▪ Failure to Stop at a Red Light
▪ Unsafe Passing
Hughes fired some 100 rounds from a home on Galway Drive, killing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Joshua Eyer, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott — 14-year veterans with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction — and Deputy US Marshal Thomas Weeks. They were part of a U.S. marshals’ task force who went to the house to arrest him.
Before the gunfight, Hughes had racked up dozens charges from Alamance County to Chatham County to Mecklenburg County.
Hughes had a warrant for his arrest from charges in Person County, near the Virginia border.
According to Person County court records, Hughes pleaded guilty to felony breaking and entering in 2010 and served about five months in prison. In 2021, he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of marijuana between a half ounce and 1.5 ounces, Person County records show.
He never showed up to court during his scheduled hearing last year, triggering the warrant. Hughes also had two orders for his arrest for missed court appearances in Mecklenburg County. One followed his failure to appear on a charge of fleeing to elude arrest and the other stemmed from his failure to appear for possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, court records show.
Several marijuana-related charges against Hughes in Mecklenburg County were dismissed in 2021 and this year.
