The N.C. Highway Patrol on Sept. 8 captured a South Carolina prisoner who had walked away from a work detail more than a year ago.

Trooper J.L. Gaskins took Rayshawn A. James, 30, of Cheraw, S.C., and a North Carolina man into custody after a high-speed chase that began with Smithfield police on Interstate 95 and ended with the Highway Patrol in pursuit on N.C. 242 near Benson.

Tammy Amaon, spokeswoman for the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, confirmed Wednesday that James is an escapee from the S.C. Department of Corrections. Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas said James had been on the run since June 2008, when he walked away from the Palmer Pre-Release Center in Florence, S.C.. He had been serving a six-year sentence for crack distribution since September 2007.

The North Carolina man arrested was Jazmine Williams, 20, of Parkton. He was charged with larceny, possession of stolen goods and resisting an officer, Gaskins said. A second North Carolina man, Eric Wolfe, 39, of St. Pauls, avoided arrest when he jumped from the car and ran, authorities said. A Highway Patrol helicopter circled, but Wolfe remained at large.

Answering a call that a suspect had stolen power tools from a Lowe's Home Improvement store, Smithfield police pursued a silver Dodge Charger about five miles on I-95, reaching speeds as fast as 140 mph. A police commander ordered the officers to stop their pursuit just after 3:30 p.m. and alerted the Highway Patrol. Gaskins was nearing the I-95 and I-40 junction. "As soon as I pulled onto the median, the car goes by," he said.

The Dodge had slowed to about 70 mph when Gaskins pulled behind it. It took the exit ramp and turned east on N.C. 242. Gaskins, joined by another Highway Patrol cruiser, turned on his blue lights.

The Dodge sped up, and two miles later, Gaskins used the patrol car to bump the rear of the Dodge, causing it to spin out to a stop on Federal Road. The three men inside jumped out and tried to run. James and Williams were caught.

Johnston team aids in search

The Johnston County Sheriff's Office sent a search-and-rescue team to Edgecombe County on Sept. 9 to aid in the search for as many as three women who have been reported missing.

The effort came a little more than a week after the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office charged a convicted sex offender with the death of one of six women whose bodies have been found in the swampy woodlands of rural Edgecombe County.

Antwan Maurice Pittman, 31, of Rocky Mount was charged with the strangulation death of Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, whose body was found in a wooded area along Marriott Farm Road.

The six women were victims of homicides dating back to 2005. A multi-agency task force formed at the request of the Edgecombe Sheriff's Office has been investigating the murders since late June. Edgecombe Sheriff James L. Knight has not said whether Pittman has been implicated in the other women's deaths.

Three more women have been reported missing in the area since 2007. Christine Marie Boone, 43, and Joyce Renee Durham, 46, were reported missing in January and June of that year, respectively, while Yolanda Renee "Snap" Lancaster, 37, was reported missing in March 2008.

The Johnston County search-and-rescue team is helping search near where some of the other women's bodies were found, along Seven Bridges and Marriott Farm roads north of Rocky Mount, sheriff's spokeswoman Tammy Amaon said.

Amaon said she did not know if the search team was called to look for one or more persons.

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Financial chief stepping down

Stephen Sawyer, chief financial officer of Johnston Health, has announced that he is resigning.

Sawyer, 55, joined the administrative team in June of 2007. During his tenure, he led the financial operations of Johnston Health through the system's largest-ever capital expansion.

"I hate to see him go," said Kevin Rogols, president and chief executive of Johnston Health. "He is dedicated, hard-working and conscientious."

Sawyer said his reasons for leaving were family-related. His wife, D.J., is homesick for the lifestyle they enjoyed in Newberry, S.C., where the couple lived for three years before coming to Johnston County.

Sawyer was the chief financial officer of Newberry County Memorial Hospital, and during their stay, D.J. made many close friends and was active in the community, he said. Also, the couple's only son lives in the Newberry area.

"The reality is that you have to have balance between home and work life," Stephen Sawyer said.

The Sawyers live in Clayton. But they were planning to move to Pine Level, where they have a house under construction. The desire to move back to South Carolina, however, was stronger than the excitement of building a new home, Sawyer said.

Sawyer is an employee of QHR, the private company that manages Johnston's public hospital system. The company has started a search for his successor, he said.

In the meantime, Sawyer will begin searching for a new job. He has agreed to stay on as long as the hospital needs him, he said.

"This is a great organization with a great board and great administrative leadership," Sawyer added. "I've enjoyed being a part of Johnston Health."

Police arrest two

Clayton police have charged two Raleigh residents in an incident at Wal-Mart.

On Sept. 5, a Wal-Mart employee detained a man and a woman for concealing clothing and health-care products. But the pair said they had a gun and walked out of the store. Outside, the woman got in the passenger side of a car stopped near the store entrance. The driver later told police that the woman said she had a gun. Police arrested the man and woman before they could get away. Police found no gun but did recover about $175 in Wal-Mart merchandise.

Police charged Keisha Levette Lasane, 40, of 1105 Holman St. in Raleigh with felonious restraint, misdemeanor larceny and resisting arrest. Corley Dovone Hairston, 48, of 710 Tyler Road, Raleigh, was charged with aiding and abetting larcency and resisting arrest.

Vandalism arrest

Clayton police have charged a 20-year-old man with using a pellet gun to break windows across town. Timothy Daniel White of 730 Commodore St., Clayton, faces 12 counts of damaging property and 12 counts of firing a pellet gun inside the town limits.