MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — It was a car chase that started across the state line, but a fugitive wanted in Virginia was finally caught when he drove into the Eastern Panhandle.
Sergeant Michael Cole of the West Virginia State Police Martinsburg Detachment tells MetroNews affiliate The Panhandle News Network it happened Thursday.
Around 2:18 in the afternoon, Sgt. Faircloth of the West Virginia State Police picked up the pursuit to assist the Frederick County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office when the suspect vehicle, a 2013 white Chevy Silverado, passed in to West Virginia on I-81. The pursuit continued into Jefferson County on Route 51. That’s when State Police Corporal Gillmore deployed spike strips, deflating the front tire of the suspect vehicle.
According to the report, the driver of the truck intentionally rammed the rear end of a police cruiser before running off the road and into a field.
State police on the scene used their cruisers to pin in the suspect’s vehicle.
Arrested was Michael Warner, 42, of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Warner was a wanted fugitive out of Chesapeake, Virginia.
At last report, the suspect was being treated at Berkeley Medical Center and will face a number of charges, including being a fugitive from justice, fleeing with reckless indifference, felony DOP, reckless driving, and obstructing.
Troopers were assisted by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Ranson Police Department and Charles Town Police Department.