Man broke into police headquarters at 1 am, NC chief says. It didn’t end well

In what may be a first, a North Carolina man targeted his local police headquarters for an early morning breaking and entering, according to investigators.

It happened around 1 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, in Ayden, and ended with the 46-year-old suspect in a hospital, Chief of Police David Dempsey said in a news release.

“Dewan Maxwell broke into the Ayden Police Department while the building was occupied by staff,” Dempsey said in a June 24 news release. “Mr. Maxwell was arrested and taken to ECU Health Medical Center to be evaluated.”

Maxwell is being charged with breaking and entering a building to terrorize, injury to real property and resisting an officer, officials said.

He is accused of breaking multiple windows, doors and “essential equipment” in the building, then running as an officer tried to arrest him, the warrant says.

Ayden is about a 90-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 6:21 AM with the headline "Man broke into police headquarters at 1 am, NC chief says. It didn’t end well."