Driver uses Hollywood-style stunt to flip over patrol car in chase, Virginia cops say
Scenes out of a “Fast & Furious” movie played out on Interstate 95 in Virginia, when a fleeing driver pinned a squad car against a wall and flipped it, according to a news release from Virginia State Police.
This was after the driver rammed the patrol car not once, but twice, police said.
It happened Dec. 23 in Fairfax County, and the driver managed to escape — only to be caught in the next county.
Investigators said the dramatic chase began around 5 p.m. in Prince William County, when a Chevrolet Malibu traveling north on Interstate 95 struck a patrol car that had pulled over for a traffic stop.
“The Malibu then fled the scene. The trooper who was struck headed north on I-95 in an attempt to catch up to the hit-and-run vehicle,” police said.
“When the trooper finally caught up to the Malibu, the Malibu intentionally rammed the trooper’s patrol car, forced it off the road, and then pinned it against the Jersey wall until the trooper’s patrol car flipped onto its side,” police said. “The state police vehicle came to rest on the shoulder ... at the Fairfax County line.”
The Malibu kept going, police said.
Call it karma or good timing, but Fairfax County police officers were on their way to help the trooper when they spotted the same Malibu.
They joined the chase and troopers “recognized an opportunity to stop the vehicle and utilized the Precision Immobilization Technique.” The maneuver involves a pursuing vehicle “intentionally nudging the pursued vehicle sideways,” according to Researchgate.net.
It worked, police said, stopping the chase on Interstate 395 in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County. Photos show the Malibu ended up on its side, with heavy damage to the front.
The windshield also appears to have been cut out, perhaps to free the driver.
Douglas Johnson Jr., 31, of Maryland, was identified as the suspect. Officials did not say if he was injured.
He is charged with felony speed to elude, police said.
Investigators say one state trooper was hospitalized with minor injuries after the patrol car was flipped.
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