SUSSEX COUNTY, Va. -- A Colonial Heights man was arrested after Virginia State Police said he led troopers on an Interstate 95 chase that ended in a crash.
Troopers first tried to pull over the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox for an improper registration just before 5 p.m. on Thursday.
"The vehicle driver refused to stop," Virginia State Police spokesperson Sgt. Michelle Anaya wrote in an email. "The trooper initiated a pursuit and followed the vehicle as it exited the interstate at the 20mm at a high rate of speed. The driver continued down the exit ramp, driving through the stop sign at the bottom of the exit ramp, at Route 631."
The driver ran off the road and drove down an embankment, according to police. When a trooper attempted to block the Chevrolet, the driver sped off and got back on I-95.
The trooper caught up to the Chevrolet and saw a female passenger in the vehicle.
The driver, 25-year-old Michael Wayne Newman, Jr., then began to waive what appeared to be a gun in his hand at the trooper.
Newman then exited I-95 at mile marker 17.
"[He] began to lose control of the vehicle on Route 301," Sgt. Anaya wrote. "Due to the seriousness of the violator's offenses and danger to the community, and with the assistance of another trooper, a pursuit intervention technique was executed to terminate the pursuit. The technique was successful and Newman was taken into custody without incident."
Neither Newman nor the passenger was hurt, according to police.
Newman,, who was wanted on several felony warrants out of Prince George, Virginia, was charged with seven felonies, eight misdemeanors, and nine traffic offenses:
- Abduction by force (female passenger)
- Driving While Intoxicated, drugs
- Possession of a Schedule I/II drug
- Possession of controlled paraphernalia
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
- Possession of ammunition by a convicted felon
- Possession of a firearm while in possession of Schedule I/I drugs
- Reckless driving by speed
- Reckless driving failure to stop/signal
- Reckless driving-failure to yield entering a highway
- No operators license
- Hit and run, failure to stop
- Disregard commands by a law enforcement officer
- Damage to state property x2
- Improper registration
- And nine other traffic infractions
Newman is being held without bond at the Sussex Jail, according to troopers.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
