Motor Vehicle Theft Leads to Arrest

On Thursday, 06/17/2021, at 6:29 pm, Morganton Department of Public Safety Officers responded to the BP Gas Station on Jamestown Rd in reference to a motor vehicle theft that had just occurred.  While officers were obtaining report information and other officers were checking the area for the 1998 green Honda Accord with a missing front bumper, PSO Lipford located it taking a right off of Highlander Dr onto Jamestown Rd.  PSO Lipford attempted to conduct a vehicle stop by initiating his lights and sirens, but the operator of the vehicle continued to flee while turning onto Reep Dr.  The vehicle reached speeds of 60 mph in a 35 mph zone before running off of the road to the left and coming to a stop after colliding with several trees.  The male subject then fled from the scene and was later found lying in the woodline of W.A. Young Elementary School, on Conley Rd., by PSO Kania.  Joseph Tyler Whisnant, 04-05-1993, was arrested for larceny of a motor vehicle, felony flee to elude arrest, driving while license revoked, and speeding.  Whisnant is being held at the Burke County Jail under a $50,000 secured bond.