Man who allegedly stole military Humvee charged with multiple felonies

Lincolnton Police Department have identified the man who is accused of stealing a military Humvee Saturday and using it to crash into two squad cars during a pursuit.

Brian Samuel Brittain, 32, of Maiden, is charged with felony breaking and entering, felony larceny of a vehicle, felony fleeing to elude, felony assault with a deadly weapon Inflicting serious injury and felony possession of stolen goods.

He was wounded during the incident, but drove from the scene, officials said. Soon after the incident, a driver flagged down a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy and said he’d picked up a person who was in his back seat and that the passenger had been shot, Lincolnton Police Chief Rodney Jordan said.

The incident began shortly before 4:30 a.m. when an officer tried to stop a vehicle that was driving erratically and had no lights on, police said in a statement. The vehicle was stolen from the National Guard Armory on North Aspen Street, where a related break-in occurred, police said.

The officer put on his blue lights and siren, but the driver kept going, police said. The vehicle made an abrupt turn from East Main Street onto Salem Church Road and hit a second police car that responded to help. The driver of the stolen vehicle then reversed course and backed into the first officer’s car. That officer at some point fired his gun at the vehicle.

The officer in the second police car was treated and released at Carolinas HealthCare System Lincoln.

Brittain was taken into custody after being released by Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte and taken before a magistrate in Lincoln County. His bond was set at $150,000.

The officer who fired his weapon striking the suspect was identified as Officer Thomas Hall. He has also been with the department since October 2015.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Man who allegedly stole military Humvee charged with multiple felonies."