ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996                 TAG: 9604230063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-1  EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER

CHASE KILLS PARENTS, HURTS BABY MAN PURSUED BY POLICE SURVIVES WRECK

What started out as a routine traffic stop turned into a chase that eventually claimed the lives of a Vinton couple and critically injured their 6-week-old daughter.

Thomas F. Faucher Jr., 34, and Lori D. Mason, 36, were killed shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday when a car being chased by police apparently ran a red light at Plantation and Williamson roads and struck their car on the driver's side, police said.

The infant, Joleen R. Faucher, was thrown from her car seat, which was in the back seat on the driver's side. She was in very critical condition at Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley late Sunday.

The driver of the other car, Scott Carlton Allman, 21, of Roanoke was charged with felony hit and run, felony failure to stop for police and driving on a suspended license, police said. He was being held without bond in the Roanoke County/Salem Jail.

The investigation continues, and other charges might be filed, police said.

Allman was not seriously injured. His wife, whose name was not available, was a passenger in the car and was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. No information was released about her condition.

Allman's car pushed the couple's car through the intersection, hitting two other cars. The drivers and passengers in those cars were treated at local hospitals and released.

Roanoke County Officer J.L. McPhail attempted to stop Allman's car on Franklin Road near Hunting Hills Drive after noticing its heavily tinted windows, police said. Allman appeared to be cooperating, but then sped away north on Franklin.

McPhail pursued Allman, noting that "traffic was not being adversely affected," according to a police news release. At one point, the officer believed the car to be stolen because a license plate check didn't appear to match the vehicle.

The car continued north on Roy L. Webber Highway and Interstate I-581, then exited eastbound at Hershberger Road, police said. Allman's car struck a car near Plantation Road, but that driver did not appear to be injured, so McPhail continued the chase. Another officer stopped to check on the driver.

Allman then headed northwest on Plantation Road, and the officer learned the car belonged to Allman. McPhail decided to break off the chase as they approached Boxley Road, police said.

McPhail could see that the intersection ahead at Williamson Road was blocked by traffic, so he slowed to about 25 mph, but Allman continued through the intersection, where he collided with the Vinton couple's car, police said.

Police would not say how fast Allman and McPhail were driving during the chase, nor would they discuss the department's chase policy.

Allman is wanted in Roanoke on trespassing, petty larceny, bad check and failure to appear in court charges, according to court documents. He is also wanted in Salem for failure to appear, the documents show.

Sunday's deaths were the latest in a series of chase-related fatalities in Western Virginia.

Jamie Marie Clay, 17, of Cadyville, N.Y., died Dec. 17, several days after a man she was riding with sped away from a state trooper who attempted to pull them over going south on Interstate 77 in Wythe County. The driver lost control while trying to pass vehicles by driving in the median. The car went into a northbound lane and collided with a tractor-trailer head on, police said.

Jason Allen Bates, 18, of Southwest Roanoke died May 14, 1994, from injuries he suffered during a chase on Franklin Road. A Roanoke police officer saw Bates speeding and weaving through traffic. The teen-ager struck a guardrail and was thrown through a closed passenger-side window.

Jamie Sue Milke, a 15-year-old runaway from New York, was killed near Claytor Lake in July 1992 after the van she was riding in led a Pulaski County deputy on a four-mile chase before running off the road and hitting a tree.

LENGTH: Medium:   79 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ERIC BRADY/Staff. Two Vinton residents were killed and 
          their infant seriously injured in this car when a car running from 
          police hit theirs Sunday at Williamson and Plantation roads.
KEYWORDS: FATALITY