Levin’s family has not heard from him since last Monday, when he picked up a customer in the Delray Beach area of South Florida.
His red 2022 Kia Stinger was spotted in the Miami area that day, then in a rural area north of Lake Okeechobee — but his vehicle was later spotted in the northern Florida area, according to officials.
On Thursday evening, Levin’s vehicle was already spotted in North Carolina after a regional task force of US Marshals Service law enforcement officers asked authorities to be on the lookout.
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At that point, Matthew Flores was arrested behind the wheel at the end of a several-hundred-mile police chase that spanned three counties, according to North Carolina Rutherford County Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg.
Ellenburg said that North Carolina State Police officers used stop sticks to stop the vehicle in Ellenburg.
The sheriff added that Flores briefly fled on foot before being caught and taken to a hospital for evaluation – he was later taken to the county jail, and the vehicle was taken to a secure location.
Flores, 35, is being held without bail on charges that include evading law enforcement, speeding, and driving while intoxicated.
He appeared at a brief hearing in the state of North Carolina, where a judge set bail at $2 million and another hearing on February 22.
Flores will eventually be extradited to Florida, where he is suspected of a murder he committed within the state at the end of January.
At the same time, authorities are now investigating how exactly Flores obtained Levin’s car, which his family said they do not know if he was the passenger that Levin picked up in Delray Beach on Monday before he disappeared.
John Eason, police chief in Wauchola, Florida, told the AP in a telephone interview that officers from Florida traveled to the state of North Carolina in hopes of questioning Flores about the missing Lyft driver.
“Our biggest concern at this point is to find and identify where Mr. Levin is,” Eason said. “Much of it depends on whether the suspect will cooperate with us.”
Flores is facing charges of second-degree murder and other charges stemming from a fatal shooting that took place last month.