THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511260069
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
A lengthy chase ended abruptly early Saturday when the stolen van that police were chasing ran into a concrete light pole, and a pursuing police car hit the rear of another cruiser.
No police officers were hurt, but the driver of the stolen van was slightly injured.
Police spokesman Mike Carey said that between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, someone stole a 1995 Plymouth Voyager minivan from the employee parking area at Sandler Foods at Northampton Boulevard and Diamond Springs Road. The thieves left the lot by driving the van through a security fence.
Officers Arthur J. Sargent and Kenneth L. Spivey took the report on the stolen vehicle. Then, about 3 a.m. Saturday while they were stopped near Newtown Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, they spotted then stolen van.
The driver of the van refused to stop when signaled by police. Instead, the van went down Newtown Road, got on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, turned onto Interstate 64 west, exited at Northampton Boulevard north and finally turned onto Wesleyan Drive.
As the van approached Baker Road near Virginia Wesleyan College, the driver missed a curve in the road and the van went off the road and slammed into a concrete street light pole.
Sargent and Spivey stopped and jumped out of their police car to check on the men in the van. But a second police car behind them was unable to stop before hitting the back of the first police car.
``The officer just couldn't stop in time,'' said Mike Carey, a police spokesman. ``He was not driving at excessive speed, but the road was wet and that's also possibly why the van slid off the road.''
The second police car sustained heavy damage.
The van driver was identified as Franklin M. Anderson, 21, who is stationed aboard the Mount Whitney.
The passenger was identified as Guillermo Rodriguez, 21, stationed aboard the John C. Stennis.
Both men were charged with car theft and were being held in the city jail in lieu of bond. Anderson's bond was set at $5,000; Rodriguez' at $2,000. Anderson also faces numerous driving charges stemming from the chase.
The Voyager, which was heavily damaged, was returned to its owner.
KEYWORDS: AUTOMOBILE THEFT HIGH-SPEED CHASE ARREST
ACCIDENT TRAFFIC INJURIES by CNB