‘Everything is damaged’: Multi-county chase’s fiery crash heavily damages local dealership

CHARLOTTE — A local dealership owner has quite the cleanup ahead of him after an early morning car chase ended in flames on his property on Sunday.

Police in Gastonia are continuing to search for Jaiquvous Williams, a man they tried to arrest for assault early on Sunday morning. He took off with leading officers on a chase before his car became airborne and crashed into T&T Auto Sales on Wilkinson Boulevard.

Channel 9 veteran crime reporter Glenn Counts caught up with the dealership’s owner, Miguel Tovar, as he assessed the physical and financial damage the incident has caused his business.

“Everything is damaged; that’s no good; that’s no good; that’s no good; that’s no good; everything is scratched,” Tovar said.

Tovar has owned this business for more than 15 years. He says it’ll be a few weeks before he can begin selling again.

“It’s going to be pretty bad; I’m going to go two weeks without being able to sell anything,” Tovar said.

Gaston County Police say Williams had a few warrants, one of them on a gun charge. While pursuing Williams, officers attempted to deflate his tires before he ended up in Tovar’s lot, a location he just moved to three months ago.

But, instead of blaming bad luck, Tovar is looking at this as just a freak accident.

Despite the intense wreck, Williams managed to escape from the police; at this time, no one knows if he is injured.

(WATCH BELOW:Police chase ends in crash along Highway 321 in Watauga County)

Police chase ends in crash along Highway 321 in Watauga County

©2023 Cox Media Group