Man accused in trooper's death appears in court on other charges

Raleigh police had been looking for Christopher McCoy Rodgers, 40, Saturday morning after his estranged girlfriend reported that he broke into her house, restrained her and her child with duct tape and locked them in a bathroom.

According to a Sept. 11 search warrant, Rodgers, of 102 Outterbridge Road, Williamston, stole the woman's ATM card and personal identification number and fled in his 1995 Nissan 200-SX.

Around 7 a.m., police tried to stop Rodgers, but he led authorities on a pursuit into Nash County, where he North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper Bobby Gene DeMuth Jr. was struck and killed while putting out stop sticks on westbound U.S. Highway 64.

In addition to two counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree burglary, Rodgers faces one count each of assault on a child under 12, assault on a female and speeding to elude arrest. Arrest warrants allege that, during the chase, he drove in excess of 100 mph and weaved in and out of oncoming traffic.

He also faces two counts of obtaining property by false pretense and larceny of motor fuel. Warrants claim he stole $44 worth of gasoline from a Wilco-Hess gas station in Clayton.

Rodgers, who was briefly hospitalized, after the wreck that killed DeMuth, appeared in Nash County District Court earlier this week on the murder charge.

He is being held in Central Prison without bond on the murder charge, and is being held under a $2 million bond for the charges in Wake County.

DeMuth, a 12-year veteran of the Highway Patrol, was buried Wednesday in Rocky Mount following a funeral service attended by more than 2,000 people.

He leaves behind a wife and an 8-year-old son.