A normal day in Wrightsville Beach Park was interrupted when Wrightsville Beach Police apprehended a man wanted for murder in Spencer, NC.
Rodney Roberto Wallace, a 47-year-old black male, was wanted for the murder of his ex-wife, Toney Ann Johnson, after she was found severely beaten between two homes in the town of Spencer in Rowan County on Wednesday, June 11. Johnson was rushed to the hospital in Spencer where she died from her injuries on Thursday, June 12.
Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House said Wallace has a daughter that lives in Wilmington but did not know whether he had fled to Wilmington to see his daughter.
Around 1:40 p.m., on Thursday, June 12, House said Wallace and a female companion were sitting in a car in Wrightsville Beach Park when the woman received a text from her mother about Wallace’s arrest warrant. The woman immediately rushed out of the car screaming there was a murderer in her car and locked herself in the public bathrooms near the tennis courts.
House said nearby Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation employees heard the commotion and called WBPD.
A WBPD detective and Captain P. Burdette ran over to the parking lot to speak with the woman and apprehended Wallace. After checking for his name in the crime database, Wallace was arrested by the WBPD.
Wallace is being processed at the Wrightsville Beach Police Department.
Captain Burdette said Wallace would likely be extradited back to Rowan County.
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