Two Maryland juveniles have been arrested and face several charges after leading Virginia State Police on a high-speed chase that ended in a crash at the I-395 and Seminary Road interchange on Wednesday afternoon (October 27).
According to a release put out by the Virginia State Police, the chase started at around 2:30 p.m. after an Infiniti was clocked doing 89 mph in a 55 mph zone and displaying a fake temporary registration tag.
“The trooper activated his emergency lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop for speeding, but the driver of the Infiniti refused to stop,” the Virginia State Police said. “Instead, it cut across all four lanes of travel in an attempt to elude the trooper. A pursuit was initiated.”
The release said the Infiniti exited Interstate 395 at Duke Street and continued west toward Beauregard Street, then returned to northbound I-395 where it changed lanes while allegedly going at 115 mph. During one lane change at Seminary Road, the drivers lost control of the car and it struck a Honda Civic and a Jersey wall.
The driver of the Honda, a 29-year-old man from Fredericksburg, was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries from the crash. the drivers of the Infiniti were arrested and also taken to a hospital.
“The 17-year-old male driver from Capitol Heights, Maryland and the 17-year-old male passenger from Prince George, Maryland were taken into custody,” the release said. “Two loaded handguns and prescription narcotics were recovered at the scene. Both juveniles were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.”
The driver of the Infiniti has been charged with reckless driving, improper registration, one felony count of eluding police, failure to maintain control, and a series of felony possession charges. The passenger is also facing felony firearm possession charges along with narcotics charges.
Part of the incident was captured on a traffic camera video and shared by public safety watchdog Dave Statter.
NEW: @VSPPIO chase on I-395N from Duke St. ended a few minutes ago in a crash & possible fire at Seminary Rd. Speeds reported to be in excess of 100 mph. @WTOPtraffic @WTOP @ARLnowDOTcom #police #LawEnforcement #traffic #vatraffic pic.twitter.com/SinIbI5fQo
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) October 27, 2021
The incident followed another pursuit a few days earlier where both driver and passenger died in a crash. The pursuit started with speeding and a claim from a dispatcher that the vehicle was stolen, which later turned out to be false. Whether or not Virginia State Police should have broad authorization to engage in pursuits has been an issue of some debate.
Photo via Dave Statter/Twitter