ROCKY POINT — A man rammed his car into a Rocky Point home, fled after stealing a vehicle, was run off the road by a Pender deputy in pursuit, fled on foot and failed to go down after being tasered while wielding a hammer, and was finally taken to the ground by a deputy early Wednesday morning.
According to a release from the Pender County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to an initial disturbance at 91 Broken Spur Court in Rocky Point just after 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“Deputies were advised that a male subject was ramming his vehicle into the side of the residence. Extensive damage was reported to the home and the vehicle,” according to Captain Billy Sanders, head of PCSO’s Investigation Division.
According to PCSO, Paul Anthony Aiello attempted to strangle two victims inside the residence before “driving his vehicle into the side of the home,” Sanders said in an early Wednesday evening release, noting that eight people were inside at the time, including children.
Aiello then used a hammer to break all the windows of the home and other vehicles located on the property, according to Sanders. When deputies arrived, he stole a Toyota Scion on the same property and fled.
“Deputies pursued Aiello and stopped him on Forest Lane at NC Hwy 133 in Rocky Point,” Sanders said in the release.
When reached by phone, Sanders elaborated on the situation.
“We actually used our vehicle to stop him,” he said, noting that the deputy’s vehicle sustained minor damage.
Due to the serious nature of the assaults Aiello had already committed, Sanders said a deputy used his own vehicle to “run [the car Aiello was driving] off the road, not at a high rate of speed, to my knowledge.”
He also said that the two individuals who had been assaulted in the home had no serious injuries at the time, according to his knowledge of the incident.
Aiello then fled on foot until “a short standoff ensued with Aiello threatening officers with the hammer” that he used at the home on Broken Spur Court.
“Tasers were deployed with no effect,” Sanders said in the release. “Mr. Aiello was taken into custody after being physically taken to the ground from behind. Aiello sustained a minor facial injury and was treated and released from the hospital prior to being taken to the Pender County Jail where he remains under a $250,000.00 secured bond.”
Aiello faces 20 charges, including felony counts of assault by strangulation, stealing a vehicle, and assault on officers with a deadly weapon. The charges are as follows:
- 8 counts of assault with a deadly weapon (misdemeanors)
- 2 counts of assault by strangulation (felonies)
- 1 count of injury to real property (misdemeanor)
- 1 count of breaking and entering a motor vehicle (felony)
- 1 count of larceny of a motor vehicle (felony)
- 1 count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle (felony)
- 1 count of injury to personal property (misdemeanor)
- 2 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with minors present (misdemeanors)
- 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon on government official (felonies)
