THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501220109
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Two people were killed late Saturday when the car they were in was rammed broadside by a van that was being pursued by police at high speed.
The identities of the victims - a man and a woman - were being withheld until relatives could be notified.
The driver of the van - owned by Nansemond Heating & Cooling Inc. - was injured. He was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in handcuffs. His identity was not immediately known.
The chase began at 11:19 p.m. near Lynnhaven Parkway and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, police said. It was unclear early today what started the pursuit.
At speeds approaching 100 mph, the chase continued along the expressway and onto Interstate 264 in Norfolk. As the pursuit neared downtown, the van exited onto Brambleton Avenue with at least a half-dozen police cars in pursuit, witnesses said.
Virginia Beach and Norfolk officers and Virginia State Police troopers joined the pursuit.
``They were just flying,'' said one witness who was several blocks from where the chase ended at Brambleton Avenue and Duke Street. ``And then there was this huge crash. It was terrible. And it lasted several seconds.''
The car, a BMW, was crossing Brambleton on Duke when the van hit it in the driver's side. The impact crushed the car so badly that the driver's side door ended up at what would have been the middle of the passenger compartment.
The car rolled over two or three times, a witness said, before finally coming to rest in the eastbound lanes of Brambleton, more than 100 feet from the collision.
There was nothing rescue crews could do when they arrived except to cover the crushed car with a sheet.
A crowd milled about on the nearby sidewalks, watching as police closed off the intersection and began their investigation.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITIES DRUNKEN DRIVING
HIGH-SPEED CHASES ARREST by CNB