DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997              TAG: 9704260269

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

YOUNG FUGITIVE ELUDES OCRACOKE POLICE THE ISLAND'S RESIDENTS EXCITEDLY FOLLOW THE ``TOP-NOTCH DRAMA.''

The young surfer and his girlfriend were throwing beer bottles out the windows of their old navy Cadillac when Deputy Ed Fuller pulled them over on the north end of Ocracoke Island just before noon Friday.

The officer was going to charge the couple with littering.

But the incident turned into a manhunt after the surfer crashed his Cadillac into the police car, sped off the road into a sand dune, started a fire when his Caddy's catalytic converter ignited a thicket of dune grass, allegedly shot at the officer, then abandoned his vehicle and sprinted into a thick tangle of maritime forest. His old collie dog was at his heels.

Within 15 minutes, officials had shut down the free state ferries that carry passengers between Ocracoke and the rest of the Outer Banks.

No one was hurt. But everyone was trapped, because there are no bridges to Ocracoke. And visitors couldn't arrive for the weekend until the ferries were put back in service around sunset.

Coast Guard helicopters soon circled overhead, scanning the 16-mile-long island with infrared heat sensors searching for the suspect.

And everyone on the isolated island was talking about the most excitement their tiny community had seen in years.

``This is top-notch drama. The mood is festive. Everyone's all abuzz like they are during hurricanes,'' Howard's Pub owner Buffy Warner said about 4 p.m. Friday. Warner's restaurant is a few miles south of where the surfer was stopped. Patrons crowded at the bar to listen to the police scanner, following the exciting saga.

No one knew why the surfer felt he had to flee when he faced only a littering fine.

``They're still hunting for the fugitive. There's a road block at the campground. And I heard they got the girlfriend in handcuffs,'' Warner said.

Ocracoke's jail is not equipped for female inmates. So after the girl was imprisoned, officials had to call in a female villager to supervise the prisoner.

``Hey, they're towing his car by right now,'' Warner said. ``It's got surfboards, a bike tied on top and Florida license plates. The state police are arriving with another helicopter to help.''

According to reports on the scanner, the fugitive is about 18 or 19 years old, stands 6-foot-1, has long blond hair, is not wearing a shirt, and has a large tattoo on his shoulder or upper back.

Some islanders said his dog ran out of the woods about 5 p.m. - then police tried to follow the animal back to where its master might be.

But Friday night the surfer was still at large.

``The only thing he can run into is water - no matter how far he gets,'' Pattie Johnson said from the front desk of the Island Inn, where dozens of guests had gathered to gossip about the manhunt. ``Poor kid. He's probably scared to death.''

Late reports from the police scanner said the surfer stole a small boat tethered in a tributary known as Quork's Hammock. Somehow, he made it across Hatteras Inlet. Officials found the boat abandoned about 8 miles north of the inlet in a village called Frisco on Hatteras Island.

``Then someone saw him getting into a white truck and heading north,'' Johnson said. ``He must have known the area to have gotten across that inlet in such a tiny boat. It couldn't have been more than 12 feet long.''

Police were unavailable for comment as the search continued.

Primarily a fishing village and summer vacation destination, Ocracoke Island is home to about 800 people year-round. It doesn't have a full-size grocery store, movie theater or even a laundromat. The post office and the pub are the most popular hangouts.

Only two deputies from the Hyde County Sheriff's Department patrol Ocracoke's beaches and quaint village. Most residents never lock their doors. The worst crimes generally are tourists speeding to catch the Hatteras ferry or weaving down the two-lane road after imbibing at Howard's Pub.

``This is really wild,'' Johnson said. ``Not much happens around here, ever. And we never see such intense police action.'' KEYWORDS: OCRACOKE POLICE DEPARTMENT FUGITIVE LITTERING

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