THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 31, 1994 TAG: 9412310323
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Two Virginia Beach women remained in jail on fraud charges Friday, a day after a high-speed chase in which their car and four police cars wrecked in the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
Three police officers were injured in the crashes, and the city's police chief promised Friday that there will be a full review of ``all aspects'' of the chase.
The driver of the car was identified as Carla Lynn Bollo, 37, of the 3000 block of Ocean Shore Drive. Police confirmed her identity early Friday, using fingerprints and other information. She had refused to give her real name, using instead the alias, ``Kimberly L. Sizemore.'' She has also allegedly used multiple aliases.
Bollo faces numerous charges, police spokesman Donnie Moore said. In Hampton, she is charged with using a worthless check to buy a computer from an Office Max Warehouse the day after Christmas. It was that purchase that led to her capture. Clerks at the store recognized her when she came in Thursday and tried to write another check. They called police.
More charges are on file against her in Maryland; there are a dozen felony warrants for her in Virginia Beach and an undetermined number of cases in Norfolk. All the charges involve allegations of fraud by check or credit card.
Additionally, charges are pending from state police in connection with the chase itself, which is still under investigation.
The woman who was with her, identified as Teresa L. Robertson, 31, of the 1000 block of Partlet Court, is charged with the theft of a credit card with the intent to use and defraud.
The chase began about 6:45 p.m. Thursday when police tried to stop the car the women were in on Mercury Boulevard. It ended three miles later in the eastbound tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
At least 13 Hampton police cars pursued the car as it approached the bridge-tunnel
State police spokeswoman Tammy Van Dame said Trooper Jerome Craig, who had been fueling his cruiser at a tunnel maintenance area, was able to get on the road in front of the car the women were in.
``He clocked the suspect's vehicle in excess of 100 mph going into the tunnel,'' Van Dame said.
``He got in front of her and straddled the middle lane,'' Van Dame said. ``She was going left and right, anything to go around him.'' But he kept her blocked in and slowed her to 55 mph. That's when she tried to get around him one more time, but lost control and struck a wall of the tunnel.
Four Hampton police cars pulled to a stop around her. A fifth Hampton police car behind them was not able to stop and struck three of the police cars. State police estimated damage at $12,000.
The tunnel was closed for about 90 minutes until all the wreckage could be cleared.
In the wake of the chase, some motorists who saw the pursuit have complained.
``I was furious when I read in the paper that this woman was wanted for passing bad checks,'' said Julian Riddick of Norfolk, one of several drivers who found themselves sharing the highway with the chase.
``I told my wife, `Wow, they must have murdered some people.' They had to have done something pretty . . . bad to have all those cops chasing them,'' said Riddick, 26, who called The Virginian-Pilot to complain about the chase.
``Bad checks? Forgery? I had my kid in the car,'' Riddick said. ``What would they have said if our car had been hit?''
Moore said Police Chief P.G. Minetti has ordered ``an investigation of all aspects of this incident, from the initial part of the pursuit to the accident.''
KEYWORDS: HIGH SPEED CHASE ACCIDENT TRAFFIC by CNB