2 charged after car smashes into Garner apartment during chase, toddler hospitalized

GARNER, N.C. (WTVD) -- A toddler is in the hospital and two men are in custody following a police chase that ended when a car crashed into an apartment building Friday afternoon in Garner.

Garner Police charged Tyref Yamere Smith, 23, of Raleigh, with felony speeding to elude arrest and possession of marijuana. The passenger, Louis C. Brock, 29, of Raleigh, was charged with possession of marijuana.

Police said that shortly after 3 p.m., they attempted to stop a BMW sedan for a registration violation in the 400 block of Highway 50.

Authorities said the car refused to stop.

Police followed the car until it crashed into the apartment building at Bryan Woods Apartments at 905 Bryan Place.

ABC11 spoke with Lincoln Johnson, whose apartment was run into. "We just finished moving everything in, just straightened up and did all the work and got everything straight and this happens but what you gonna do," Johnson said.

The driver tried to run from the crash scene with the 2-year-old child, who was apparently unrestrained and sitting on the passenger's lap at the time of the crash, Garner Police said.

Smith was caught after a short foot chase, police said.

Police said the toddler was taken to Wake Med as a precaution.

The crash caused extensive damage to at least one apartment. No one was in the apartment unit at the time of the crash.

Police said the car Smith was driving was seized.