Investigators charged William Dozia Smith, 20, and Stephen Lavance Oates Jr., 19, and two 14-year-old juveniles with robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony fleeing to elude.
According to police the chase started shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday when Cpl. D.A. Ferrell spotted a white Taurus station wagon with Florida tags on Fayetteville Street near Massey Avenue. The vehicle matched the description of a vehicle that had been used in a previous armed robbery.
Officer Ferrell attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped away and refused to stop. Officers chased the Taurus on the Durham Freeway and U.S. 15-501 to Interstate 85 North and then back to U.S. 15-501 and Interstate 40. The N.C. Highway Patrol took over the chase in Wake County and used "stop sticks" to flatten the vehicle's tires and stop the Taurus near Rock Quarry Road. Officers from the Durham County Sheriff's Office, the Wake County Sheriff's Office and the Raleigh Police Department assisted with the chase.
Smith, Oates and the two juveniles are charged with robbing a couple of cash Sunday night at gunpoint on Lambeth Circle. Investigators are trying to determine if they have been involved in other armed robberies.
Oates was also charged Tuesday night with an armed robbery that was reported November 19, 2007 at Bennett Pointe Grill on Hillsborough Road. An employee was taking out the trash when two males approached him and demanded money. One male took the victim's cash while the second male sprayed the victim with pepper spray. Oates was charged with robbery and simple assault in that case.
