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Man charged in wreck, pursuit
Foot pursuit lasted 45 minutes
A Chevrolet Malibu sits in the yard of 1304 Spruce St., Martinsville, Thursday evening after it overturned during a police pursuit. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray)
Friday, August 3, 2012
An 18-year-old man was charged Thursday night after a vehicle wrecked and police and others were led on a 45-minute foot pursuit through the Druid Hills area of Martinsville, according to the Martinsville police.
Rasheem Hairston, 18, was charged with speeding, leaving the scene of an accident and felony elude police, according to Martinsville Police Lt. D.W. Wimmer.
Wimmer said the incident began around 6:20 p.m. Thursday on Church Street in Martinsville when Officer E.C. Stone attempted to stop a Chevrolet Malibu on suspicion of speeding. The vehicle allegedly failed to stop, and Stone pursued it onto Spruce Street, Wimmer said.
Just past the intersection of Spruce and Prospect Hill Drive, the driver allegedly lost control of the Malibu, Wimmer said, adding that he could not estimate the vehicle’s speed.
The car went off the right side of the road. It took down two trees at an apartment complex at the corner of Spruce and Prospect Hill Drive and then traveled into the yard of 1304 Spruce St., according to Wimmer and Greg Worrell, who lives at 1304 Spruce.
The vehicle tore out a split rail fence at the corner of Worrell’s property and lifted up some shrubbery. But Worrell said he and his wife Donata were not home at the time, so his pickup was not parked in its usual spot in the driveway.
If it had been, it would have been in the direct path of the Malibu. Instead, the Malibu hit an embankment on the left side of the Worrells’ driveway and flipped, Wimmer said. The car’s battery landed on the front porch of the neighboring home.
The two people in the vehicle allegedly ran, Wimmer said, starting a 45-minute foot pursuit that involved residents and officers from the Martinsville police and sheriff’s offices, Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia ABC Department. In all, he said, about 15 people were involved.
The pursuit went on Spruce Street, Gratton Road, Berkshire Place and into the woods on Corn Tassel Trail, where the two people were caught in the 700 block, Wimmer said.
One of the two was a juvenile who was not held, Wimmer said.
No one was hurt in the incident.
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