Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office News Release • March 28, 2023 • Lt. K. Suthard
(Rockingham County, NC) – On Monday, March 27th, at around 12:29 p.m., Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputies Walt Paschall and Jeremy McCollum performed a traffic stop on a Black in color Jeep Grand Cherokee, N.C. license plate PMX-9934, on Gideon Grove Church Rd. in Madison.
Jacob Allen Nugent was driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Deputies identified the vehicle’s passenger as Annabelle Steele Whitten, who had several outstanding arrest warrants.
As Deputies Paschall and McCollum approached the car, Nugent suddenly put the transmission into Reverse and backed the Jeep Cherokee up, striking Deputy Paschal in the left arm with the vehicle. Nugent then turned the car and attempted to strike Deputies Paschal and McCollum again as he fled. Deputy Paschal received minor injuries as a result of being hit by Nugent’s car. Deputy McCollum was not hit by the vehicle.
Deputies Paschall and McCollum gave chase in their patrol cars, but Nugent and Whitten were able to elude them during the pursuit.
As a result of this encounter, Jacob Allen Nugent was charged with two (2) counts of Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer with a Deadly Weapon and several other charges relating to the vehicle pursuit. In addition to the previously outstanding arrest warrants, Annabelle Steel Whitten was charged with Resist, Obstruct, and Delay an Officer for failure to follow Deputy Pashcal’s commands to exit the car when instructed during the vehicle stop.
Anyone who sees Jacob Allen Nugent and/or Annabelle Whitten, or knows their whereabouts, is asked to call 9-1-1 and report their location immediately; or the Rockingham County Crime Stoppers Tipline at 336-349-9683. Crime Stoppers tipsters remain anonymous and can receive rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
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