Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office News Release • April 29, 2024 • Lt. K. Suthard, PIO
(Wentworth, NC) – On Friday, April 26, 2024, at around 11:15 a.m., Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputy J. McCollum attempted to conduct a vehicle stop on US 220 Bypass (southbound lane) of a White Dodge Charger traveling at a high rate of speed. The vehicle continued without yielding to the stop and fled.
Deputy McCollum lost sight of the vehicle at one point, and the pursuit was discontinued, but shortly thereafter, other Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputies located the vehicle traveling eastbound on NC 704, and the vehicle again fled.
The high-speed pursuit of the vehicle led Deputies across Rockingham County to Lawsonville Avenue in Reidsville, near Bass Road, where the occupants fled the vehicle on foot into the surrounding woodline. Initially, five suspects, possibly juveniles, were believed to have fled the vehicle. It was later determined that only four suspects had been in the vehicle, and none were juveniles.
The area was searched, and all four suspects were apprehended. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the White Dodge Charger was stolen from the Raleigh area. The tags displayed on the vehicle had also been stolen from a car of a similar year, make, and model Dodge Charger and had been affixed to the car. It was not until Deputies ran the vehicle’s VIN that they discovered it was stolen, as the tags had not yet been reported stolen.
The following individuals were arrested in connection to the high-speed pursuit and stolen vehicle:
 * DARION TYRIC VALENTINE, 21, of 7 Booker Rd. Martinsville, Va. (Driver), was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under a $30,000 secured bond. |
 * AMARI KANYE POUNDS, 20, of 22 Jackson St. Martinsville, Va. (Passenger), was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under a $7,500 secured bond. |
 * ENRIQUE JORGE MATOS, 22, of 148 Azalia St. Stanleytown, Va. (Passenger), was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under a $5,000 secured bond. |
 * OMBAE KORYCHE JOHNSON, JR., 24, of 917 Independence Dr. Martinsville, Va. (Passenger), was placed in the Rockingham County Detention Facility under a $5,000 secured bond. |
The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Madison Police Department and Reidsville Police Department for their assistance in this pursuit and these apprehensions.
###