A vehicle transporting North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and state Rep. David Willis (R-Union) was repeatedly hit from behind Thursday evening, according to Moore’s office.
“Security was driving the Speaker and Rep. Willis back to Raleigh after a visit for a series of events today,” Demi Dowdy, a spokeswoman for the Speaker’s office, said in a statement. “On the drive back, the vehicle was rammed from behind several times.”
Dowdy noted that nobody was injured in the vehicle carrying the two Republican lawmakers and the incident is under investigation by both the General Assembly Police and North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
In a separate statement, Dowdy said the motive is still under investigation, but investigators currently do not believe Moore and Willis were personally targeted by the driver who struck the vehicle.
James Matthew Brogden has been identified as the suspect, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told Axios, which first reported the news.
Brogden is facing a number of charges that include driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), resisting a public officer, and injury to personal property, Freeman said.
During an interview with WRAL on Friday, Moore provided more details on the hits, saying Brogden struck the vehicle carrying the two lawmakers and two other individuals at least three times at “highway speed.”
When asked by a reporter if he believes he was the intended target, the Speaker responded that he was initially worried that the driver intentionally crashed into them, but he downplayed this idea further into the investigation.
“I don’t believe that was the case. I think this person, from what I’ve seen, was just so impaired to such a stand that he was just out there and it could have been anybody, but it just happened to be us,” Moore said.
Moore also said that the accident could have been much worse, explaining that it was “good he hit us” instead of someone “in a little car,” or a “young or elderly driver” because a trained law enforcement officer was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.
“I’ve talked to a couple of police officers since then, [and] that hit, at that speed of a car, I’ve seen this, it could make a car spin out, flip over, all kind[s] of bad stuff. Thank God we’re all just alright,” he said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also addressed the incident in a statement on Friday, saying he was glad after learning that everyone was okay.
“I told [Moore] I am glad that no one was hurt in this alarming incident and that law enforcement caught the suspect. He said he looked forward to a less eventful ride home today,” the governor said on Twitter.