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

DATE: MONDAY, July 26, 1993                   TAG: 9307260038
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

2-STATE CAR CHASE ENDS WITH ARREST

A 19-year-old Radford man was in the Franklin County Jail Sunday after a chase that involved speeds of more than 100 mph, authorities said. Two police officers were injured.

Franklin County sheriff's Capt. W.Q. "Billy" Overton said the chase began about 7:25 p.m. Saturday at North Carolina 68 and U.S. 220 in Madison, N.C., when a state trooper clocked a car traveling 88 mph. The car had been reported stolen in Pulaski.

Trooper R.D. Smith pursued the car north on 220 into Henry County, where Virginia State Police and Henry County sheriff's deputies joined the chase.

In Martinsville, Virginia Trooper M.D. DeHart braked and swerved to avoid a Martinsville police car and collided with another car not involved in the chase. DeHart's vehicle went airborne, and both cars were totaled.

The suspect ran numerous vehicles off the road during the chase, Overton said.

The chase ended around 8:30 p.m. about five miles south of Rocky Mount, near the Franklin County landfill. The suspect's car collided with one driven by Rick Anderson, a Martinsville police officer. The suspect ran into some woods and was caught by Franklin and Henry County sheriff's deputies.

Charges against Robert L. Ayers included malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding, injuring people during a police pursuit, possessing a stolen vehicle and stolen tags, and driving with a suspended license. He was being held in the Franklin County Jail.

DeHart and the other driver in the Martinsville crash, Roy Lynwood Adams, were treated at the Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County and released.

Anderson was treated at Franklin Memorial Hospital and released.

by CNB