CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- What caused a police pursuit that started in Chesterfield County early Sunday morning to last 25 miles, ending in a crash along I-95 in Richmond is still unclear.
Chesterfield Police say around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, an officer on patrol near Woolridge Road heard tires squealing loudly and observed a gray sedan driving recklessly, doing donuts in the intersection of Woolridge and Genito Road.
Police say the officer saw the vehicle's license plate had been covered by a towel. Police say the officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop but the suspect driver did not stop.
Police say the driver fled, repeatedly turning the vehicle's headlights on and off as it traveled along Genito Road to Hull Street Road, to Chippenham Parkway and then onto I-95 North.
"It's unusual to do a pursuit for that long," said Dr. William Pelfrey, a policing policy expert and researcher with Virginia Commonwealth University. "25 miles is a long pursuit. The longer a pursuit goes, the more at risk the public becomes."
Chesterfield Police say during the pursuit, the suspect vehicle hit an assisting Chesterfield Police cruiser at least three different times.
“When suspects initiate a pursuit, the police want to end that pursuit pretty quickly because they then have a sign, an indicator, that the driver is dangerous," Pelfrey said. "So, they’ll usually do a pit-maneuver where they rear-end the vehicle or hit the vehicle from the side, and then corral it, pin it in. The fact that the driver hit the police officer, or hit a police car three times, that’s pretty unusual. I’m surprised the police agency didn’t decide to end the pursuit at that time, but let it go on and on and on.”
The pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle wrecked into a jersey barrier on I-95 near MM74, close to Franklin Street and the Monroe Building.
No injuries were reported, and no other vehicles were involved.
The driver, 24-year-old Tijuon Johnson of Henrico, was charged with reckless driving, felony eluding, assault on a law enforcement officer, having a concealed weapon without a permit, and having an expired inspection sticker.
It's unclear how many officers were involved in the pursuit and what measures were taken to end the pursuit.
"At what point could they have blocked the road, could they have put down a spike strip to stop the driver, were there other means available or options available other than just following this driver for 25 miles?" Pelfrey asked.
A CBS6 investigation found Chesterfield's police pursuits increased by 197% between 2018 and 2022, with 191 police pursuits reported in 2022.
This is a sharp distinction from other agencies, Pelfrey said, that are pulling away from continuing pursuits due to increased risk of harm.
“The agency is going to say, we caught somebody who had guns. But you don’t know that until you catch that person. Unless you have intel suggesting that that driver, that suspect is carrying guns, you have no reason to believe that. All you see is a traffic offense," Pelfrey said. "At that point, you’re saying, this is a minor traffic offense, what’s the risk? And most agencies will say, the risk is too high, and they’ll call off that pursuit. Chesterfield County is going in a different direction.”
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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