Speeding suspect captured at grocery store

MINT HILL, N.C. -- Some volunteer firefighters helped police arrest a man after he led officers on a high-speed chase Monday night.

Police said Highway Patrol officers initially tried to stop the man for speeding on Interstate 485.

Troopers followed the man to the Albemarle Road exit. The man ditched the vehicle he was driving and fled into a wooded area.

Police said the man ended up in a Food Lion grocery store. Two volunteer firefighters from Idlewild inside the store subdued the man before officers arrived.

Shoppers inside the Food Lion said they watched in amazement.

"I was going to go check out and a guy just walked in and all of a sudden all these cops come running in and the guy takes off running," said witness Steve Waters. "He was running in and out of aisles, knocking things over. More and more cops came running in and they finally caught him."

"I saw him on the ground with multiple policemen on the ground cuffing him," said Cindy Lewis. "He was talking and he kept saying he was sorry. He said, 'It was a mistake. I'm sorry.' I just kind of stayed out of the way."

Police said the man, who has not been identified, told officers that he ran because he was on federal probation and could not get into any more trouble.