Authorities say Inwood man died last week after police pursuit, self-inflicted gunshot
INWOOD, W.Va. — An Inwood man died last week from what authorities say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a two-county police chase, according to a news release from the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department.
Austin Michael Roher, 21, died the night of Oct. 12, said Lt. William Christian with the sheriff's department.
Roher was the only person in the car and there were no other injuries from the incident, Christian said in a Tuesday phone interview.
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Chief Deputy Victor Lupis, with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, roughly estimated the two-county police pursuit was about 10 miles long.
During the police pursuit, Roher "drove recklessly and passed vehicles in no-passing zones," according to the police release that was distributed Tuesday afternoon.
Christian said he was not aware of any near misses the vehicle had with other vehicles during the pursuit.
The incident began when Jefferson County deputies tried to conduct a traffic stop around 9:17 p.m. in the area of W.Va. 9, mile-marker 60.5, because a black Infiniti G37 with West Virginia registration was recorded going 111 mph and had defective tag and head lights, the release states.
When the deputies activated their emergency lights and sirens for the traffic stop, the car's driver didn't stop and the car continued west on W.Va. 9, taking the Kearneysville/Leetown exit and going through the stop sign, the release states.
Christian said authorities, after the incident, didn't find any evidence in the car to indicate why Roher fled from police.
Two-county police pursuit
After the Infiniti ran the stop sign at the Kearneysville/Leetown exit, Roher turned left to go south on Leetown Road.
Police positioned ahead of the Infiniti used spike strips to disable the car, but the Infiniti swerved into the oncoming lane and avoided the spike strips, the release states.
The car continued south at a "high rate of speed" and, approaching Sulphur Springs Road, all of the car's lights went off and the driver turned onto Sulphur Springs Road going in the oncoming lane, the release states.
Entering Berkeley County, Roher continued driving, going through the red light at the intersection with Middleway Pike, also known as W.Va. 51, and turning west, the release states.
Berkeley County deputies joined the pursuit near the first roundabout in Inwood, the release states.
At the second roundabout, the Infiniti took the second exit north onto Winchester Avenue, also known as U.S. 11.
Roher turned onto Elleber Road, to Lobo Lane, before the Infiniti stopped at the dead end, the release states.
When the car stopped, deputies began "verbal commands" for the driver to exit the car, the release states.
After a brief period with the driver not exiting, Berkeley deputies approached the car and removed the driver from the Infiniti.
Deputies found Roher had a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the Berkeley County Emergency Ambulance Authority was immediately dispatched, taking Roher to the Berkeley Medical Center.
Roher died at the hospital.
Christian said the self-inflicted gunshot occurred after the car stopped.
Two police cars from both sheriff departments were involved initially in the pursuit, Christian said.
Christian said the fastest the Infiniti went, that police were aware of, was the 111 mph that initiated the attempted traffic stop in Jefferson County. It would have been difficult for the car to reach such speeds on the other roads in the pursuit without the car crashing, he said.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: West Virginia man dead after police chase, self-inflicted gunshot
