Thursday afternoon I was assigned to the evacuation of Knight’s Inn on I-85 Service Road. In fact, my photographer and I had just returned to the station with fresh interviews, new information and new pictures. It was time to review the tapes and write the story. That’s when I noticed a lot of scanner traffic coming from the nerve center of our newsroom, the assignment desk. It’s lined with scanners and when news breaks, the assignment editors are the first to know and the best at dispatching crews to the right spot to cover it.

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Police catch man after two state chase  

Man leads police on high speed chase  

Raw video of chase suspect's arrest  

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15-Photos from the scene

Athena is our assignment editor at night. It’s one of the toughest and most exciting jobs in news. She single handedly listens to scanners for every county in our viewing area, staying in constant communication with 911 dispatch centers, staying on top of EVERYTHING that’s happening EVERYWHERE that matters to our viewers. She’ll also take phone calls from reporters calling in new details on stories they are covering, while she repeats all of that to our producers, our promotional tease writers, and managers. It should be a sport: EXTREME MULTI-TASKING!

So when a big story is breaking, it’s best to drop what you are doing and pitch in. So I hopped up on the assignment desk (it’s elevated from the rest of the newsroom where the reporters, anchors, and producers sit). I offered to answer the phone while Athena keyed into what was happening: a police chase in York County.

Drug agents were calling in the location of their suspect as they chased him northbound on I-77. Then the suspect spun around, southbound. The scanners buzzed with talk of stop sticks, more help, coordinating the chase between local authorities and state troopers in both states. And I have to admit, even though Athena would have been better served by me assisting with the routine desk duties while she honed in on the chase (listening to scanners, dispatching crews, calling 911 communications and the sheriff’s department, etc), I got sucked right in. My adrenaline factory was in full production. And let’s face it, this is part of why you get into this business...the rush of breaking news and the opportunity to play some small part of it.

AirStar6 launched immediately. Both pilot and photojournalist were on top of the suspect’s car very quickly. On the assignment desk, we are able to push a button and talk to the pilot and photographer, in order to give them the latest information about what’s going on, the latest location they need to shoot for and any other details they need. In this case, we were hearing that the suspect was headed for Charlotte. Then we heard he threw a bag out of his car window onto the other side of the highway. Wow! I’m wondering, ‘Is this going to cause an accident? Will some troopers turn around and find out what he was trying to get rid of? Does the suspect not know they saw him?’ The intensity kept building. Then we hear a trooper say that bag was full of crack cocaine, something we later confirmed with the York County Sheriff’s Department.

Okay, so this looks like I need to get on it, not from the assignment desk, but in person! Photojournalist Kevin Ridley and I are heading out the door, into a LIVE truck, scanner in hand and just then the suspect drives right past the 6NEWS studios on Billy Graham Parkway. So your adrenaline is racing, you want to be there to see it all and this is where eight years of doing this for a living plays an important role…THINKING. It’s critical that we get the story, but not become the story but chasing the chase, getting in the way, or putting anyone’s life at risk. So Kevin and I proceeded with caution.

We headed in the direction of the chase, keeping in constant contact with Athena. That’s another ball she juggles: the location of every 6NEWS crew. She knows exactly where we are at all times. Keep in mind, AirStar6 is flying directly above all the action. The suspect fled up I-85 north for just a few miles, got off the highway and basically led police right to his house. From AirStar6, you can see the entire capture. He runs into his house and a North Carolina State Trooper is right behind him. Not even a minute later, the suspect, Darryl Marcus Allison, is brought out in handcuffs.

6NEWS

Police arrested Darryl Marcus Allison at his home after he led police on a high speed chase, which started in York County, S.C.

From the ground, we saw the suspect taken into custody, troopers cuffing his hands and feet. Troopers picked the man up and carried him to the patrol car, placing Allison inside. Photojournalist Kevin was very close, getting the whole scene on tape: the end of a two county, two state chase.

As soon as we interviewed Marvin Brown from the drug unit of the York County Sheriff’s Department and the mother of the suspect, we returned to the station. That’s where the digging begins. Who is Allison? Does he have a record? Has he been in trouble before? We found the answer to those questions by searching the Meckelnburg County Sheriff Department’s web site. Using the suspect’s name, date of birth and home address, we turned up a long list of past drug charges, assault charges. We also discovered authorities had charged him once before for fleeing police.

With all this information and great video, the story is ready to be written, edited and reported LIVE! That’s what it’s like to cover breaking news. And the best part? Nobody was hurt. And the original story I was working on, that Knight’s Inn eviction/evacuation, was still well covered by a hard working and much appreciated producer.

If you have questions, comments, story ideas (like what I should blog about next) or news tips, send me an email…acrowley@wcnc.com. I read each and every one of them!