Thursday, February 13, 2025

WPD makes arrest in fatal hit-and-run

WILMINGTON — The suspect in a hit-and-run fatality that took place over the weekend has been apprehended. Joseph Leopold Small Jr. was arrested with a $500,000 secure bond. The 59-year-old was charged with felony hit-and-run resulting in death, armed robbery, and 2nd-degree kidnapping. The WPD have said more charges may be forthcoming as well.

When police put out a call to the public to help identify Small, they were suspicious he was operating his vehicle like a paid riding service. Yet, it wasn’t registered as a taxi. A 2012 Chrysler Town and Country van was suspected to be involved in a hit-and-run that killed a 17-year-old Brunswick County female early Sunday morning.

“The Wilmington Police Department appreciates all the responses from the public in aiding with this case in helping to identify Mr. Small,” the police noted in a release. “With your swift response, Mr. Small was taken into custody within hours after our initial request for assistance.”


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Shea Carver
Shea Carver
Shea Carver is the editor in chief at Port City Daily. A UNCW alumna, Shea worked in the print media business in Wilmington for 22 years before joining the PCD team in October 2020. She specializes in arts coverage — music, film, literature, theatre — the dining scene, and can often be tapped on where to go, what to do and who to see in Wilmington. When she isn’t hanging with her pup, Shadow Wolf, tending the garden or spinning vinyl, she’s attending concerts and live theater.

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