Just months before four law enforcement officers were killed and five others were injured during a standoff, the man at the center of the deaths led police on a high-speed chase in Lincoln County.

Lincoln County Sheriff Bill Beam told WCNC Charlotte one of his officers tried to pull over 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr. in January, but instead of slowing down, he sped up and “took off.” Beam said a supervisor called off the short chase once the officer identified the license plate number, which was registered to a woman.

Terry Hughes Jr.

The U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force was attempting to serve multiple warrants against Hughes on Monday, including one tied to that Lincoln County chase, at a home on Galway Drive in east Charlotte when they were met with “active gunfire,” according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Hughes was shot and killed during the encounter.

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A WCNC Charlotte review of Hughes’ criminal background shows a man who routinely skipped court and repeatedly tried to evade arrest.

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North Carolina state records show Hughes was convicted of breaking and entering in Person County, which is north of Raleigh-Durham, in 2010. He spent approximately six months in prison before being released in May 2011.

Hughes was arrested in June 2012 after a high-speed chase in Alamance County {snip} At the time, he was wanted on several warrants in numerous counties for failing to appear in court. He spent nearly a year in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and speeding to elude arrest.

Hughes was arrested by CMPD on multiple drug charges in May 2021. He was also charged with fleeing or eluding arrest with a motor vehicle. He was released from jail hours later, records show.

Court records show many, but not all, of the charges out of Mecklenburg County were dismissed. {snip}

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