On Monday at just before 10:00am Hickory Police Officers located a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the Food Lion located at 3220 Springs Road NE. It was determined that the vehicle belonging to a Conover man wanted on multiple felony warrants.
Unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the subject inside the vehicle lead to a standoff that lasted for a little more than two hours.
It’s reported that sheriff deputies and the US Marshal Service were also on scene, and that SWAT team members used a device to break out the window before firing non-lethal projectiles into the vehicle to immobilize the subject.
Officers arrested 37 year old Johnnie Lee Roy Lail of Conover .
The outstanding warrants for Lail were for Habitual Felon, Felony Possession of Schedule II, Felony Possession of Stolen Motor Vehicle, Felony Larceny, Felony Attempted Larceny, Felony Breaking and Entering, two counts of Felony Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Misdemeanor Injury to Real Property, and Misdemeanor First Degree Trespassing.
Lail was transported to an area hospital for medical evaluation.
The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, the Hickory Fire Department and Catawba County EMS also responded and assisted with this incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Scott Cameron at scameron@hickorync.gov or call the Hickory Police Department at 828-328-5551