For Release: Immediate  Date: January 10, 2001

Renee Hoffman Public Affairs Director Phone:(919) 733-5027 (ext. 231) F/Sgt. Jeff Winstead NCSHP Public Affairs Officer Phone:(919) 733-5027 (ext. 238)

RALEIGH - State Bureau of Investigation agents, deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department, and officers from the Lumberton Police Department this afternoon captured the suspect wanted in connection with a chase yesterday that resulted in the death of a State Highway Patrol trooper.

At 4:45 this afternoon, law enforcement officers captured Travis Elijah Freeman at the Motel 6 in Lumberton. He was wanted on warrants issued yesterday for felony speeding to elude arrest and assault with a deadly weapon. Other charges may be pending.

Freeman is the suspect who led Troopers John Duncan and Chris Williams on a chase yesterday afternoon after they stopped him for speeding. As the chase reached Turnbull Road in southern Cumberland County, Trooper Duncan lost control of his Patrol car, which crashed into some trees, overturned and burned. Trooper Duncan died at the scene.

Colonel R.W. Holden, commander of the Highway Patrol, issued this statement on Freeman's capture: "We are very grateful for the hard work of the SBI, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies who have spent the past 24 hours combing the area for the suspect. I also want to thank the citizens of North Carolina and especially the Cumberland County community for their outpouring of support for the Duncan family and the Highway Patrol."

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