Admin
12-10-2008, 01:41 PM
A truck driver wanted for violating probation more than a decade ago led police on a 30-mile chase yesterday that began on Interstate 270 in upper Montgomery County and followed the Capital Beltway into Virginia before the driver crashed near Tysons Corner, authorities said.
The chase began after the driver, Vernon E. Jones, gave workers at a weigh station a false Social Security number, police said. Jones ran to his vehicle and fled when authorities realized there was a warrant for his arrest; during the pursuit, he tried to run two police vehicles off the road, police said.
At times, as Jones led police along some of the most heavily traveled roads in the region, a handful of officers drove in front of him, clearing the roads, while as many as three dozen followed and a state police helicopter whirred overhead. Police used strips of spikes to flatten his tires.
Shortly after 4 p.m., with smoke and sparks flying from the truck's shredded tires and rims, Jones, 36, lost control, crashing along West Park Drive in a spectacle carried live on national television.
Maryland State Police initially said Jones was wanted on murder charges in Baltimore. A short time later, however, spokeswoman Elena Russo said Jones had been convicted of assault with intent to murder and was wanted on a probation violation.
Read more and watch the Video Click here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/09/AR2008120902208.html)
The chase began after the driver, Vernon E. Jones, gave workers at a weigh station a false Social Security number, police said. Jones ran to his vehicle and fled when authorities realized there was a warrant for his arrest; during the pursuit, he tried to run two police vehicles off the road, police said.
At times, as Jones led police along some of the most heavily traveled roads in the region, a handful of officers drove in front of him, clearing the roads, while as many as three dozen followed and a state police helicopter whirred overhead. Police used strips of spikes to flatten his tires.
Shortly after 4 p.m., with smoke and sparks flying from the truck's shredded tires and rims, Jones, 36, lost control, crashing along West Park Drive in a spectacle carried live on national television.
Maryland State Police initially said Jones was wanted on murder charges in Baltimore. A short time later, however, spokeswoman Elena Russo said Jones had been convicted of assault with intent to murder and was wanted on a probation violation.
Read more and watch the Video Click here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/09/AR2008120902208.html)