A normal day in Wrightsville Beach Park was interrupted when Wrightsville Beach Police apprehended a man suspected of murder in Spencer, N.C., Thursday, June 12.
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, Wednesday, June 11. Johnson was rushed to the hospital in Spencer where she died from her injuries.
On June 12, Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House said Wallace has a daughter who lives in the Wilmington area but did not know whether he had fled to Wilmington to see her.
Around 1:40 p.m., June 12, House said Wallace and a female companion were sitting in a car in Wrightsville Beach Park when the woman received a phone call from her mother about Wallace’s arrest warrant. Appearing unaware of the alleged murder, the woman erupted from the parked vehicle screaming there was a murderer in her car, locking 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 to the parking lot to speak with the woman and arrested Wallace after checking for his name in the crime database. Wallace did not resist during the arrest and was processed at the Wrightsville Beach Police Department.
Wallace was on probation for charges earlier in 2014 for assault on a female and domestic criminal trespass.
On Tuesday, June 17, Burdette said Wallace had been transferred to Rowan County with no bond. The State Bureau of Investigations and the Spencer Police Department are investigating the incident.
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