Monday, June 2nd, 2025, at 9:04am, Maiden Police officers were dispatched to the parking area beside the Country Market Convenience Store at 5724 Startown Road Maiden, NC in reference to a subject firing shots into a vehicle.
Arriving officers determined a then unknown male suspect approached a parked tractor trailer truck, pointed a pistol at the driver of the truck, ordering the driver out of the truck. The driver quickly complied and as the driver walked from the truck, the male suspect fired shots from the pistol directly
into the fuel tank of the tractor trailer. The suspect then got into a gray pickup truck and fled the area
just before officers arrived.
While officers were on-scene speaking with the truck driver, the suspect returned in the pickup truck. When the officers attempted to stop the suspect’s truck, the suspect fled at high speed. Officers pursued the truck northbound on US Hwy 321 four miles to the NC Hwy 10 exit where the suspect
ran out of fuel. The suspect was arrested after physically resisting. A loaded pistol was located in the suspect’s pocket. Officers also located methamphetamine inside the suspect’s truck.
The suspect, James Matthew Roland age 54 of Duck Creek Road Lenoir, NC was interviewed by Maiden Police investigators. Roland told investigators he fired shots into the truck fuel tank attempting to cause a fuel explosion. There were no injuries to anyone involved.
Roland was taken before a Catawba County Magistrate where bond was set at – NO BOND – pending a First Appearance in Catawba County District Court on Tuesday, June 3rd , 2025, on the charges listed below:
– Felony – Second Degree Kidnapping
– Felony – Malicious Use of Explosive Damage Property
– Felony – Attempted Burning of Personal Property
– Felony – Possession of Firearm by Felon
– Felony – Possession with Intent to Sell/Deliver Meth
– Misdemeanor – Assault by Pointing a Gun
– Misdemeanor – Resisting Public Officer
– Misdemeanor – Discharge Firearm in Town Limits
– Misdemeanor – Go Armed to the Terror of the People
Maiden Police were assisted in apprehending the suspect
by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office.
