
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990                   TAG: 9004120396
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Southwest bureau
DATELINE: BLAND                                LENGTH: Short

TEEN FACES CHARGES IN CAR THEFT, CHASE

A man suspected of stealing a car and dodging law enforcement authorities for three days was arrested Wednesday when he tried to get a meal at a Bland County restaurant.

Shawn Timothy Bersagel, 19, of Zebulon, N.C., also faces traffic charges stemming from a chase that started Monday when a car ran through radar at 80 mph.

The car was identified as a vehicle that had been stolen in Raleigh, N.C. When state troopers pursued it at speeds as high as 100 mph, the driver abandoned it near the Bastian community north of Bland and fled into a wooded area on foot.

Authorities used a helicopter and tracking dogs from the Bland Correctional Center to try to catch the fugitive. He emerged from the woods Wednesday morning near a school bus shop to ask workers where he might get breakfast. After they directed him to the nearest restaurant, they also called police and directed them to the same place.

State police Lt. Jim Willis said Bersagel was arrested Wednesday morning at a restaurant in Bastian.

by CNB