CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- An in-depth look at the suspect's driving record in Wednesday's hit-and-run in Chesterfield shows numerous charges over the years.
Just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, Chesterfield officers were called to the 9700 block of Iron Bridge Road for a crash involving a dump truck and a motorcycle.
The driver of the motorcycle, 21-year-old Wade G. Bibey, died at the scene, officers said.
"He was a great employee. Everybody liked him around here," Mike Bates, the plumbing manager at Bradley Mechanical, said.
Bibey worked only a few miles from the crash site with Bradley Mechanical as a plumber for the past four years.
His boss, Mike Bates, said he joined them from the county's tech center and said that Bibey stuck out from the rest of his class in a photograph.
"Every kid in that photograph had all brand new, sparkly boots on. And he had all worn out, dirty boots. I said that's the one I want, right there, because he's a worker. And it turned out I picked the right one," Bates said.
Bates said Bibey's death is a tragedy, not only because of Bibey's loss but because the other driver involved in the crash shouldn't have been allowed to drive.
"Makes you feel sick to your stomach," Bates said, who added his is calling on the suspect to turn himself in. "Turn yourself in. You're not helping yourself. They're gonna get you. You just go make it worse on yourself."
Taking a look at the criminal history of the other driver
The driver of the dump truck, later identified as Elvin McCray, ran from the scene of the crash, according to police. At this time, the police are still looking for him.
He is wanted for felony hit and run while driving with a revoked license and also for driving a motor vehicle without a commercial driver's license.
According to the Virginia Court's Database, over the past 20-plus years, 46-year-old McCray has been charged with dozens of crimes across Central Virginia, including many traffic violations.
In 2000, McCray was arrested in Chesterfield and was charged with eluding police. He ultimately pleaded guilty to the charge.
In 2012, he was convicted in Richmond of driving with a revoked license and failure to obey a traffic signal. One year later, he was arrested in Henrico and again charged with driving with a revoked license.
He was found guilty of that along with two other infractions.
In 2018, Chesterfield Police charged McCray with drinking while operating a motor vehicle and driving with a revoked license for the third time in ten years. However, both charges were set aside.
In 2019, McCray was arrested in Powhatan for again driving with a revoked license and expired registration. Later that year, he was arrested in Chesterfield for drinking while driving with an open container.
McCray was found guilty of that charge. While court records show that he was scheduled to appear in court on the Powhatan charges earlier this year, he ended up being listed as a fugitive.
He was also indicted by a grand jury in Richmond in March and was charged with felony failure to perform construction work. He is scheduled to make a plea in that case next month.
Third fatal crash on five-mile stretch of Iron Bridge Road in One Week
The crash that McCray is being sought in is the third crash in the last week along a five-mile stretch of Iron Bridge Rd.
On Tues., Sept. 13, a cyclist was killed after he was hit by a truck in the 8000 block — police said witnesses said the cyclist was moving in and out of traffic prior to the crash and no charges are expected to be filed.. On Thurs., Sept. 8, a woman was killed after her car was hit — police have arrested and charge the other driver in that case.
"It is a very not good situation," said Debra White, who commutes along the stretch of road daily on her way to work. "I see congestion, I see a lot of people on their phones, I see a lot of tailgating — not being safe."
White said she wants people to take more caution while driving and be held accountable if they are not.
"I mean, Chesterfield County police are doing what they can and I support them 100%," said White.
Chesterfield County Police Traffic Unit Sgt. Stephan Rouze said having this many deadly crashes in a short area within a week is an "anomaly" and that officers are out enforcing everyday.
"We get complaints for speed, for distracted driving — everything that you see, I see and my officers see on the roadway. And if we see those violations, we will stop people for that. We will cite them accordingly and they can explain to the judges why their behavior was what it was," said Rouze. "This stuff is genuinely heartbreaking because you might be in a rush to get somewhere — and we all have places to go — and you try and beat the light or you try and go a little bit over the speed limit or, you know, you just got to look at that phone real quick. But all those things have consequences...the constant things that we see are genuinely frustrating, because everything that is happening is preventable in one way or another. Again, outside from a mechanical defect."
