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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995                   TAG: 9501300069
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRUCKERS CAPTURE HIT-RUN SUSPECT

Three civic-minded truck drivers who witnessed a hit-and-run crash Friday night on Interstate 81 helped capture the runaway driver by forcing him off the road with their trucks, police said.

``They deserve some credit, and we're glad to give it to them,'' said state Trooper M.L. Bowen.

Bowen said state police were on the scene of an accident on I-81 near Salem about 10 p.m. when a car ran into the back of a van that was stopped in traffic because of the accident. Three people from Virginia Beach were injured. The driver of the car, who Bowen said was intoxicated, then drove away, hitting another car as he fled.

Dale Steven Reese of Marion, N.C.; Michael A. Kapek of Gilbertsville, Ky.; and Brian Speights of Linwood, N.J., all chased the fleeing car in their tractor-trailers. Bowen said he kept in touch with the truckers by CB radio and knew exactly what they were doing as they did it.

A few miles south of the site of the accident, the trio surrounded the car with their trucks. They hemmed it in and eased it off the road.

``They were able to get him and slow him down without getting hurt or without him hurting himself,'' Bowen said.

The suspect tried to escape by backing into one of the trucks, Bowen said, but to no avail. The truckers held him until a trooper took him into custody.

Bowen said the three people in the van, whose names were not available, were taken to Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley and treated for back and neck injuries.

George Dale Crotts, 39, of Salem was charged with drunken driving and felony hit and run.

by CNB