DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 1997              TAG: 9710070298

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   46 lines

2 POLICE OFFICERS AMONG 4 INJURED IN LONG CHASE OF STOLEN CAR

At least four people, including two Portsmouth police officers, were hurt Monday night during a long police chase of a stolen car through Portsmouth and Norfolk. All of the injured were treated at local hospitals and released.

The chase, which began in Portsmouth just before 7 p.m., took police through the Midtown Tunnel twice. During one pass, the suspect's car hit another inside the tunnel. The car also came close to sideswiping a state highway worker.

The chase ended when two officers and a police dog chased a 17-year-old suspect on foot through a Portsmouth railroad yard.

Police did not identify the suspect Monday night but said he faces several charges, including auto theft, hit and run, eluding police, and numerous traffic offenses.

Police spokeswoman Amber Whittaker did not say why police started the chase at 6:55 p.m. at Detroit Street and Chautauqua Avenue in Port Norfolk. At some point, she said, police determined that the car was stolen in Norfolk.

Whittaker said a Portsmouth officer tried to stop the car by turning on his lights and siren, but the car sped away. The suspect then drove to the Martin Luther King Freeway, through the Midtown Tunnel to Norfolk, through several Norfolk streets, then back through the tunnel again. She did not say how fast the chase was.

Inside the tunnel, the fleeing car hit another, exited the tunnel, crossed the lane divider, hit another car, sped northbound in the wrong lane, then finally stopped at the Cleveland Street on-ramp to the tunnel, police said.

During the chase, two Portsmouth police cars collided on the Martin Luther King Freeway. As a result, two Portsmouth officers were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Whittaker did not describe their injuries; they were in good condition Monday night.

After that crash, the freeway was closed around the Cleveland Street overpass for about two hours.

A driver who was hit outside the tunnel and suffered minor injuries also was taken to Norfolk General.

Finally, a state highway worker suffered minor cuts when he dodged the fleeing car. Police did not say where that happened and did not describe his injuries. KEYWORDS: AUTO THEFT ACCIDENT TRAFFIC HIT AND RUN

POLICE CHASE

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