ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020032
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
A homicide charge could be among those a Kentucky man faces in connection with a crash that killed a Covington man after a police chase Monday evening.
No charges have been filed yet against the man or his passenger.
However, Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said he has been consulting with the state attorney general's office to see if the driver of the car can be charged with second-degree murder.
The typical charge in a case like this is manslaughter, Branscom said. But this particular case may merit a second-degree felony murder charge, Branscom said - a charge that comes into play when a death occurs during the commission of another felony. In this case, the other felony would be larceny.
State police learned after the crash that the car the men were driving was a junker donated to a vocational school in Jackson, Ky., for use in an auto repair class. It was reported stolen Sunday night, according to police in the Eastern Kentucky town.
"They will be charged," Branscom said. "But we're going to take our time and get it right."
In the meantime, Timothy Stocks, 18, of Lost Creek, Ky., who police said was driving the car, and Johnny Wayne Hayes, 21, are both hospitalized. Once they recover, Kentucky authorities have arrest warrants for them in the theft of the car.
Sgt. Jeff Noble of the Jackson police said he's familiar with Stocks and Hayes. A few months back, he said, Stocks was arrested for stealing a car, but received a lighter charge after giving information about other cases.
Hayes was released from prison about a year ago after serving time for burglary.
Hayes was listed in stable condition Tuesday at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Stocks' family requested his condition not be released, but state police Lt. Steve Childress said he was in serious but stable condition.
Timothy Mays, who would have turned 30 in two weeks, died at the scene of the crash just north of Gala on U.S. 220 about 7 p.m. Monday. The driver of a third car involved in the crash, Ellis Cobb Jr., a federal probation officer from Daleville, was released from the hospital Tuesday after being treated for minor injuries.
The entire chase lasted only about six minutes, Childress said. Trooper J.J. Daniels gave up the pursuit just before the crash.
Daniels was running radar on Interstate 64 in Alleghany County when a sedan sped by at 87 mph, Childress said. Daniels pulled out after the car and followed it onto U.S. 220 south before he caught up and the pursuit actually began.
Childress said the sedan maintained speeds near 90 all the way through Iron Gate and south on 220.
When the car began crossing the double yellow line and passing cars on a narrow, winding stretch of the highway, Daniels broke off his chase, Childress said. Daniels decided the pursuit was too dangerous, Childress said, and another trooper had set up "Stop-Stix" - a device that punctures and slowly flattens car tires - just a mile down the road.
But seconds later, Daniels saw a cloud of smoke on the road ahead, Childress said.
The car apparently had slipped onto the right shoulder of the road and then careened back across both lanes into the path of Mays' compact car.
"I wish we were sitting here talking about how well the Stop-Stix worked," said Childress, who used to teach troopers pursuit driving. "But I don't know what the trooper could have done differently."
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB