PCSO: Pair steals car from store, crashes it during chase with deputies

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Two people are behind bars after allegedly stealing a car from a store in Rocky Point and leading deputies on a chase before crashing into a ditch.

Pender County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded to a report of a car theft around 10:35 a.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Fresh Way Food Mart in Rocky Point.

PCSO says the victim had parked his 2002 Chrysler 300 near the Cash Points in the parking lot. That’s when Larry Dale Martin and Megan Dassaro reportedly got in the car and drove off.

The victim was able to get in the car with a family member who also was at the store and follow the suspects, to give their location to responding deputies.

The deputies and North Carolina Highway Patrol quickly located and chased the stolen car down NC Hwy 210 W, onto Little Kelly Road to the 1400 block, where suspects wrecked in the ditch.

Martin and Dassaro were taken into custody.

Martin, of Kershaw, South Carolina, is charged with break or enter a motor vehicle, larceny of motor vehicle, possess stole motor vehicle, flee/elude arrest, and injury to real property. He is in jail under a $80,000 bond.

Dassaro, of Lancaster, South Carolina, is charged with break or enter a motor vehicle, larceny of motor vehicle, and possess stole motor vehicle. She is in jail under a $15,000 bond.