Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990 TAG: 9003252110
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But as he tried Saturday night to stop a pickup truck going more than 100 mph in the wrong lane of U.S. 460 in Bedford County, he expected the worst.
Claudius Taylor, 48, of Lawrenceville was charged with reckless driving, attempting to elude a police officer and driving under the influence, second offense. The trooper said Taylor has a prior DUI conviction within the past 10 years.
"I could just picture him hitting some family coming home from dinner in Roanoke," Tsoleas said.
Saturday night was drizzly and overcast as Tsoleas cruised along the eastbound lane of U.S. 460 just west of Montvale.
His supervisor, Sgt. A.W. Rush, called him on the radio and said a Bedford officer had spotted a speeding truck driving west in the eastbound lane.
As Tsoleas drove into a sharp curve near Goose Creek, the pickup truck passed him going the wrong way. He clocked the truck at 88 mph.
Tsoleas drove his police cruiser across the median and got parallel with the speeding truck. His blue light was flashing and his siren blaring as he tried to get the truck to stop.
Traffic was heavy in the eastbound lane and motorists tried to get out of the truck's way. Tsoleas estimated that 30 cars encountered the truck during the six-mile chase.
"People saw him coming," Tsoleas said. "It was kind of like the `Dukes of Hazzard.' People were sliding and getting off the road."
Finally, Tsoleas was able to get a little ahead of the truck in the opposite lane.
He crossed the median again, flashing his lights to warn other drivers that he, too, was going to drive west in the eastbound lane.
He got in front of the speeding truck and slowed the police car to a stop. The truck was forced to stop behind him.
He then got Taylor from the truck.
Taylor had driven 12 miles in the wrong lane before he was stopped, the officer said.
"It was amazing how he had gotten as far as he did."
by CNB