Rowan County Deputies Seize A Large Amount Of Heroin Following Car Chase On I-85

Samantha Gilstrap,

SALISBURY, N.C. — The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office says two people, already on probation, are under arrest after police seized a large amount of heroin on southbound Interstate 85 after engaging in a car chase.

Deputies say 42-year-old Terrance Butler is charged with trafficking heroin by possession and transportation, felony maintaining a vehicle, felony fleeing to elude arrest, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and is being held on a $100,000 bond.

Deputies say 26-year-old Brandon Phillips is charged with trafficking heroin by possession and transportation, felony maintaining a vehicle, and possession of drug paraphernalia, and is being held  on a $100,000 bond.

Police say they pulled over Butler, driving a 2004 black Cadillac Escalade, for a routine traffic violation when Butler looked as if he was pulling over, but started to flee with passenger Phillips at 110 miles per hour down Interstate 85.

Officers chased the Cadillac for two miles as a box with digital scales and plastic bags of heroin were thrown from the vehicle, according to a news release.

Deputies say after stopping the two suspects short of Peeler Road, they conducted a search of southbound Interstate 85 and found around 100 grams of heroin, valuing around $7,000.

Police say not all of the heroin was recovered because many of the bags were torn.

Butler was on federal supervised release from prison after being charged on September 17, 2007 for possession with intent to distribute crack, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, and after being sentenced to 160 months in federal prison, he was intended to be under probation for five years, according to a news release.

Investigators say Phillips has an extensive criminal history for possession of drug paraphernalia, assault of a woman, misdemeanor larceny, shoplifting, and felony larceny on an anti-theft device, and was currently facing a probation violation at the time of the crime.