LINCOLNTON––A Gaston County-based manhunt spilled over into Lincoln County on Tuesday night.

And according to Gaston County Police Department Assistant Chief Anderson Holder, the pursuit efforts resulted in netting three suspects in connection with a stolen truck. As Holder told The Herald on Thursday, a GCPD drone unit and a canine unit were used to capture the suspects.

Just after 10 p.m. on Sept. 3, Gaston County Police patrol units attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a stolen Ford “F-350” truck on Puetts Chapel Road near Dallas. The truck did not stop for the patrol units, and officers from the Gaston County Police, the Lincoln’s County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol pursued the stolen truck to the area of Hovis Road, just south of Lincolnton. Officers lost sight of the truck when it entered a large soybean field.

An on-scene officer was a member of the Gaston County Police Drone Unit and was equipped with a drone with thermal-sensing capabilities. The drone was utilized to follow the truck’s path through the soybean field, and the truck was located in the backyard of a nearby residence. Canine officers began to track the suspects from the truck, while the drone was used to search the soybean field.

Shortly into the search, the drone located a thermal heat signature possibly associated with the three suspects from the stolen truck, the men all lying in the field and attempting to evade capture. Canine officers continued tracking the suspects, while the drone monitored their movements. At the completion of the canine track, it was verified that the heat signatures the drone unit observed were the three suspects from the stolen vehicle. All three were taken into custody without incident.

No further details will be released at this time.

The Gaston County Police Department would like to thank the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the N.C. Highway Patrol for their invaluable assistance that led to a successful outcome for this incident.

(BELOW) Two of the suspects are seen here in the soybean field. (Gaston County Police Photo)