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Search drags on for chase suspect who leaped off bridge into Appomattox River

Posted at 7:15 PM, Jul 04, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-07 01:50:55-04

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- The search for a suspect who jumped into the Appomattox River after a police chase ended that started earlier Friday evening dragged into a third day on Sunday.

The incident started when a Virginia State Police trooper tried to stop a vehicle along the Boulevard in Colonial Heights for an equipment, according to Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. When that vehicle did not stop, a chase ensued down the Boulevard.

Martin Luther Kings Bridge (Google Maps)

Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge (Google Maps)

The chase lasted only a minute and then the suspect stopped his vehicle on the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge, which links Colonial Heights and Petersburg.

The suspect then jumped out of the car, ran to the right side of the bridge and then jumped into the Appomattox River.  Geller says that it is a 75 foot drop from the bridge to the river.

"There were about four or five cop cars shooting down," said Gregory Burkhouse who lives nearby.

Police conducted  a massive search, combing the river looking for the suspect. The search was called off due to darkness but will resume first thing Saturday morning.

Petersburg Police, as well as the Chesterfield Fire and EMS Dive Team, joined the search effort. Additionally, a helicopter flew over the scene giving police an aerial view in the search.

Officials said the Virginia State Police Search & Recovery Team resumed searching Sunday morning for the missing suspect after state police divers spent more than nine hours searching the river Saturday.

 

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