Two officers injured when teen drives through police checkpoint, NC troopers say

A holiday weekend police checkpoint turned chaotic when a 17-year-old driver failed to stop and collided with two officers, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

It happened just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Conover, and both officers were taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, investigators say. Conover is in Catawba County, about a 45-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.

“Conover Police Department was conducting a license checking station on County Home Road. ... A Ford Fusion was traveling north on County Home Road, failed to stop, and struck two officers in the roadway,” highway patrol officials said in a May 25 news release.

“The driver of the Ford Fusion, a 17-year-old Juvenile female from Conover, was not injured. At the time of the collision, emergency lights were activated on a patrol car while officers conducted the checking station.”

A cause for the collision remains under investigation. “Charges are pending,” officials said.

Identities of the officers and driver have not been released.

This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 12:10 PM.