ABINGDON — According to Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman, one suspect is in custody and another remains at large after a somewhat confusing police chase in which one suspect managed to sneak back to his own getaway car once and later doubled back and stole the pursuing officer’s car after crashing his own.
At approximately 1 p.m., Deputy Robbie Cruise spotted a white male “hanging around” John Battle High School, Newman said. Cruise confronted the man on Battle Hill Drive, and after they exchanged a few words, he “jumped into an older model Toyota” driven by a female, and the pair drove away.
Cruise attempted a traffic stop on the pair as the car headed south on Lee Highway into Bristol, running red lights at Old Dominion Road and at Exit 7. The car slid off the road and hit a tree when the driver attempted a right hand turn near the 2450 block of Lee Highway.
The pair ran away from the crash scene and Bristol, Va., authorities captured and arrested the woman.
In the meantime, the male suspect had managed to get back to the Toyota. So Cruise’s pursuit of the car on Lee Highway continued until the man crashed at the Blevins Boulevard intersection. This time, the car was disabled, Newman said.
A second foot chase ensued and the suspect “circled around” and took Cruise’s patrol car, Newman said. It was located about an hour later near the intersection of Young Drive and Reedy Creek Road.
The suspect has been identified as Kenneth Ray Clark, 43, of 2022 Windsor Avenue, Bristol, Tenn. As of Tuesday night, he was still being sought on charges of felony eluding, grand larceny of a vehicle, driving on a suspended license and reckless driving.
The woman, identified as Bonnie Grace Richardson, 23, with a listed address of 347 Camp Placid Road, Blountville, has been charged with felony eluding and reckless driving, and additional charges are pending.
Richardson was being held without bond in the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Abingdon.