Chase begins with intrepid friend, ends in crash
PLEASANT GARDEN — A police chase sent the driver of a stolen minivan to the hospital Wednesday and gave two local women a remarkable story to tell.
Nicholas Sabatino, 19, of Pleasant Garden faces several charges in the incident, including possession of a stolen vehicle, financial card theft, obtaining money by false pretense, and possession of a controlled substance.
Sabatino was treated Wednesday at Moses Cone Hospital for unspecified injuries received when the minivan ran off the road and into the woods where Tabernacle Church and Neelley roads meet in rural Guilford County.
No one else was hurt, and Sabatino was the only person in the minivan, officials said.
The story started Wednesday morning at Joy Carter’s home on Talbot Road in Pleasant Garden. With most students in Guilford County out of school for spring break, Carter was planning to take her three daughters to a day care center before going to work.
Her girls went outside to put their things in the family’s 2000 Chrysler van. Then one of the girls came back inside and asked, “Mom, where’s the van?”
“It’s in the driveway,” Carter said.
“No, it’s not,” her daughter replied.
Gone, too, were Carter’s purse and cell phone, which she had left in the van. Carter said she last remembered seeing her van at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Carter, 30, called her best friend Kathleen Winkler of Greensboro. The two women work together at a substance abuse clinic. Winkler calmed her friend down and suggested she call the sheriff’s office.
Carter also called the bank to report that her bank card was gone, and the bank told her that someone had used the card overnight at the Cavalier Inn, a motel that overlooks Business 40/85 in Greensboro.
Winkler, 44, who is studying criminal justice at Guilford College, got an idea. She thought that whoever stole the van might be asleep in the motel, so Winkler took her friend’s spare key and drove to the motel. She planned to drive Carter’s minivan home and return later to get her own car.
But when Winkler arrived at the motel, Carter’s minivan pulled into the parking lot.
Winkler called Carter, who was talking to a deputy writing up the theft report. Should I try to box him in? Winkler asked the deputy. The deputy said no.
The minivan left the lot, and Winkler followed. Down South Elm-Eugene Street. Left on Montcastle Drive. Left on Pleasant Garden Road.
At some point, Winkler said she got the feeling that the driver knew he was being followed. It’s still unclear whether he knew that police and deputies, alerted by police radio about 9:30 a.m., were looking for him as well.
As the van approached U.S. 421, Winkler flagged down a deputy in an unmarked car. The minivan sped south on the highway, and the unmarked car gave chase. Winkler tried to follow.
“I was doing 100 to try to keep up, and they passed me like I was standing still,” she said.
The minivan turned west onto Neelley Road. As Neelley curved where it meets Tabernacle Church Road, the van kept going straight.
The minivan left about 100 feet of tire tracks through the grass and mud on the wrong side of the road. It clipped a street sign, hit two trees and came to a stop in the woods.
The crash ejected the driver from the minivan and sent one of the doors flying about 75 feet, officials said.
The crash occurred about a mile from Carter’s home. Later Wednesday afternoon, Winkler said that neither she nor Carter knows Sabatino, who was living in a rented room in a private home on Neelley Road.
The Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, and additional charges may be filed. As of Wednesday evening, Sabatino had not been booked into the Guilford County jail.
Staff writer Ryan Seals contributed to this report.
Contact John Newsom at 373-7312 or john.newsom@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: The remains of a stolen minivan lie in the woods near the intersection of Neelley Road and Tabernacle Church Road in Pleasant Garden.
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