NC teacher admits to speeding; trooper says he was clocked at 150 mph during chase

An award-winning Harnett County teacher is facing criminal charges after a chase where the arrest warrant says he led state troopers on a 150-mph car chase early Sunday morning.

Latrell McDougald, 24, is charged with:

• Felony fleeing/eluding arrest with a motor vehicle
• Two counts of misdemeanor speeding
• Misdemeanor reckless driving
• Misdemeanor failure to heed to a light or siren
• Misdemeanor window tinting violation
• Misdemeanor covering/disguising a plate
• Infraction failure to maintain lane control
• Infraction failure to stop sign or flashing red light
• Infraction driving left of center

McDougald is a math teacher at Triton High School in Erwin, where he went as a student.

Warrants obtained by WRAL News say the trooper first clocked McDougald going 96 miles per hour on Interstate 40.

The documents say the trooper pulled out with sirens and lights flashing, but McDougald didn’t stop, instead hitting 150 mph, eventually exiting onto Highway 242, blowing through a stop sign, and weaving across lanes.

McDougald admits he was speeding but says he just didn’t notice the trooper behind him, and insists he never drove 150 miles an hour.

“He probably reached 150 [mph] trying to get to me, but I don’t think he clocked me at 150 [mph],” McDougald said.

McDougald said he was driving home around 2 a.m. Sunday to Raleigh.

“The people who know me, know me,” he said. “I haven’t, [ever] harmed anybody, never carried any firearm. [I] wasn’t drunk.”

McDougald teaches honors classes and was hired in January 2023. The district suspended him with pay pending a review of the situation. McDougald was recently awarded the 2024 Beginning Teacher of the Year. McDougald also coaches football and basketball.

“I still love the kids to death,” McDougald said. “[I] love the students to death. Some still try to contact me. Some still ask if I’m ok.”

McDougald says he’s still committed to his students, and is afraid that one night will erase years spent trying to do the right thing.

“This is what I come from,” McDougald said. “It’s just tough.

“And, I know what it is, not having someone who’s this color in certain people’s lives. And, all I do is try to help them. For the most part, like I said, never tried to hurt them, never tried to discourage them. [I] always encourage them.”

McDougald said he’s due in court in March.

WRAL News reached out to Harnett County Schools for comment but have not heard back.