A vehicle pursuit on U.S. 220 North in Rockingham County, North Carolina, that topped 90 miles an hour ended with a PIT maneuver on Briarfield Court, a methamphetamine-trafficking arrest — and the discovery of a 19-month-old child inside the fleeing vehicle, the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office said. The incident happened on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and was reported by the sheriff's office on Monday night, November 9.
According to the sheriff's office, Deputy B. Rivera was assisting the North Carolina State Highway Patrol with a vehicle pursuit on U.S. 220 North near the Refuel truck stop when the chase began. Speeds exceeded 90 mph before another deputy ended the pursuit with a PIT maneuver — a deliberate, controlled contact with the rear quarter of a fleeing vehicle that turns it sideways and brings it to a stop — on Briarfield Court. The driver, identified as 44-year-old William Tyrone Moore, was taken into custody at the scene.
A toddler in the back of the fleeing car
During the stop, deputies discovered a 19-month-old child inside Moore's vehicle. Rockingham County EMS responded and evaluated both Moore and the child. The sheriff's office said the child was not injured, and family members arrived and took custody of the child. The child is not named in the sheriff's account, and no injury to the child was reported. Among the Highway Patrol's charges against Moore is a child-abuse charge arising from the pursuit.
From a traffic pursuit to trafficking charges
What began as a highway pursuit became a drug case. Further investigation by Deputy Rivera and Deputy J. McCollum resulted in the seizure of more than a trafficking amount of methamphetamine, the sheriff's office said — the office did not publish an exact weight. On the sheriff's office's charges, Moore faces felony trafficking in methamphetamine, felony possession of methamphetamine, and felony maintaining a vehicle for controlled substances (maintaining a vehicle for drug activity).
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol filed its own set of charges from the chase itself: felony fleeing to elude arrest, failure to heed lights and siren, child abuse, littering, unlawfully passing an emergency or public-service vehicle, and failure to wear a seatbelt. Moore was taken before a magistrate, issued the $90,000 secured bond, and is being held at the Rockingham County Detention Facility. The charges are allegations: Moore is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
U.S. 220 is the main north–south highway through Rockingham County, linking the Greensboro area with the Virginia line and Martinsville, and it carries heavy commuter and truck traffic past truck stops like the Refuel stop near where this pursuit began. A 90-mph chase on that corridor put every other driver on the road — including the truckers who use it daily — in the path of the fleeing vehicle.
Sheriff credits deputies, troopers, EMS and dispatchers
Sheriff Billy Parker credited Deputy Rivera and Deputy McCollum for their work, and also recognized the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Rockingham County EMS and the county's 911 dispatchers for their assistance in the incident, the sheriff's office said.
What happens next
Moore is scheduled to appear in court on November 16, 2026. The sheriff's office says its investigation is continuing and additional charges are expected. No court outcome has been reported, and the amount of methamphetamine seized has not been publicly quantified beyond the sheriff's description of it as more than a trafficking amount.