Troopers say a driver crashed a stolen vehicle into another car at Ten-Ten Road and Old Stage Road during the Thursday morning commute before jumping into a witness' vehicle and fleeing the scene, eventually crashing a second time.
WRAL crews arrived at the Ten-Ten Road scene by 8 a.m. There was a silver Lexus sedan in the road with back-end damage and a black SUV off the side of the road.
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Multiple officials from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and Wake County Sheriff's Office were there.
According to the SHP, the black SUV was stolen. Officials said the driver of that SUV ran a red light, crashed into the silver Lexus and then crashed into the treeline.
When another driver stopped to help, troopers said the driver jumped inside the good Samaritan's pickup truck and drove off.
Several Wake County deputies could be seen responding to the Ten-Ten Road crash from Sky 5.
According to SHP, that man then crashed the truck 10 miles away on Morgan Street near downtown Raleigh, hitting at least two vehicles. SHP said the man, who was transported to a hospital with minor injuries, was likely impaired.
SHP identified the man as Robert Jerry Bradley of Cary. Arrest warrants were obtained for driving while impaired, felony hit-and-run, reckless driving, failure to wear a seat belt and failure to stop for a red light.
Sky 5 flew over the second crash and could see a black pickup truck flipped on its side across the sidewalk. The two other cars had significant damage.
WRAL News spoke to the man whose truck was stolen, who said his vehicle was totaled. He said he left the truck on and took his keys with him, and the man who stole his truck was able to still drive it without the key.
WRAL spoke to another witness, Nathan Nolan, who lived nearby. He said he was sleeping in his camper across the street when he heard a boom. When he walked outside, he said he saw one of the vehicles in the bushes before he heard a man scream, "he's getting in my truck."
"He jumps into the dude's Silverado truck with the lights on, and we hear peeling tires and he's gone," Nolan said. "Obviously the guy is like, 'I left my coffee and golf clubs in there!' And we were both like, 'Well, I can get you another coffee.' We were trying to have a good sense of humor in the moment."
Nolan said the man in the stolen SUV who took the truck appeared to be bleeding from his forehead after the crash, saying he believed he hit the car doing maybe 50 or 60.
"I think there's a lot of people who need help. I see people walking up and down the road who seem like they really need help, and I don't think they are getting the proper help that they need," he said. "Ultimately, I think it's putting people in danger. It's putting people's lives on the line."
Nolan said it did not appear anyone was seriously hurt in the first crash.
As for how the truck was able to continue driving without the key, he said it wasn't clear. He said the victim called roadside assistance to try and remotely shut his truck off after it was stolen, but was told it wasn't possible without a police report.
Raleigh police and Wake deputies are working on the case.