Arrest made after truck targets homeless man and hits his cat instead, NC cops say
Police in North Carolina have arrested someone connected to an incident last month in which a homeless man was nearly run over by a white truck that struck his cat instead.
The driver, however, still hasn’t been identified.
Scott Everett Ford was arrested on charges of accessory after the fact to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, felonious obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact to felony cruelty to animals, the Asheville Police Department said Wednesday. He was released from jail on a $20,000 secured bond.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Ford was connected to the incident, which occurred May 17 near the Exit 44 off-ramp along Interstate 40 East. A spokesperson for the police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Video taken by a witness and shared by police showed a man later identified as Alex McPherson trying to flee a white truck that’s circling him in a field near I-40. The truck then ran over a cart with McPherson’s cat, Thomas, inside.
The man and his cat were not hurt, police said.
McPherson, who is homeless, told WLOS he was panhandling when the driver came after him and he “barely got out of the way.”
“I mean why would you want to do that and endanger my cat’s life, not to mention mine?” he said, according to the TV station.
Police said they are still searching for the driver, who is described as a white man between 30 and 40 years old wearing a light-colored T-shirt and ball cap. The truck is a white Ford F-150 with a North Carolina license plate bearing the tag RCL-8595.
Anyone with information about his identity is asked to text TIP2APD to 847411, use the TIP2APD smartphone app or call 828-252-1110.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Arrest made after truck targets homeless man and hits his cat instead, NC cops say."
