Teen tied to Sen. Soles charged with fleeing police

Allen Strickland, of 99 March Ave., was released on a $100,000 secured bond last week. The State Bureau of Investigation has charged him with setting the July 29 fire that burned the Tabor City home built with money from Soles, 74.

Officers police spotted Strickland driving around 4:20 a.m., though officers said he has no license, said Capt. Bean Foley with Tabor City police. Strickland roared away at speeds of at least 75 mph before wrecking the Corvette near the South Carolina line, police said.

Strickland wasn't in the car when officers found it, but he came into the police office that evening and said that his Corvette had been stolen, Foley said. He said evidence from the scene, though, indicated that Strickland had been driving during the chase.

Strickland was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, filing a false report of a theft of a motor vehicle, driving without an operators license and careless endangerment. He posted a $4,000 bond and has been released.

According to state Department of Correction records, Strickland was convicted of 10 motor vehicle violations in 2008.

Two weeks after the house fire, Soles became the subject of SBI investigation based on allegations from a 27-year-old man that Sole molested him more than a decade ago. Stacy Scott later recanted, saying he was under the influence of drugs when he made the allegations.

The SBI is also looking into an incident at Soles' home in which he shot a former legal client, Kyle Blackburn, 22.  A witness has said Soles acted in self-defense, and the SBI has not filed charges.