RALEIGH, NC (WNCN/CNN) - A North Carolina teenager is dead and a man is behind bars, accused of running him over all because of a cell phone.
Police said it was a confrontation over a cell phone that turned deadly Monday morning near a Fuquay Varina shopping center.
It happened just before 2 a.m. Monday when police said 16-year-old Monterio Whitehead with two friends approached David Dixon in a Walmart parking lot and asked to use Dixon's cell phone.
Police said Dixon agreed and gave the teen his phone but then Whitehead took off running with it.
Dixon, in his Mazda, chased Whitehead through the Walmart and Home Depot lots, over two curbs and down hill through trees, before running over Whitehead in someone's driveway, according to police.
"Kind of shocked to hear that (it happened) a couple of blocks from my house," said Kathie Marshall.
Shoppers wondered why the situation escalated to violence.
"It's a tragic ending," said Mark Yourcheck. "I feel sorry for the family."
"That's a huge overreaction on his part, I would think over a cell phone. It makes you wonder what kind of frame of mind he was in at the time."
Court records show Dixon has a criminal history.
No one answered at his home Monday. He is being held without bond.
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