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Amherst County man in jail after police chase

By Dave Thompson

Published: November 6, 2008

An Amherst County man is in jail without bond after he led police on a car chase through the Madison Heights area Thursday afternoon, at one point colliding with another vehicle.

Trooper D.E. Ferrell, with the Virginia State Police, said Earl Orlando Jones, 19, fled when Ferrell tried to pull him over for a traffic infraction at about 2:38 p.m.

Heading north on U.S. 29 Business in Madison Heights, Ferrell said he tried to stop Jones near the intersection with Seminole Drive, but Jones didn’t pull over.

Ferrell contacted the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office, who sent a unit to back him up.

Ferrell and a deputy tried to box in Jones in the area of North Coolwell Road, and nearly had him stopped, Ferrell said.

“He made a left and went down an embankment,” before entering the southbound lane of U.S. 29 Business traveling north, Ferrell said.

While traveling the wrong way, Ferrell said, Jones collided with a minivan before turning onto Cedar Gate Road.

Another trooper, he said, investigated the crash and said the minivan’s occupant was not injured, though her car had to be towed.

Meanwhile, Jones led state and county officials up Cedar Gate Road, eventually abandoning his car in a construction area near Laurel Cliff Road, Ferrell said.

Jones ran into the nearby woods, at which point, Ferrell said, county authorities and state police swarmed the area. They called in a county bloodhound and the state’s Med-Flight III helicopter.

The helicopter noticed Jones and directed police to where they apprehended him.

Ferrell said Jones was charged with felony eluding police, felony hit and run, driving on a revoked license, as well as several other traffic violations. He was booked in the Amherst County Jail without bond.

Ferrell said the inter-department cooperation was exceptional.

“Amherst County — I can’t give them enough praise,” he said.

Reader Reactions

Posted by ( WhyTheHate? ) on November 09, 2008 at 9:33 am

(I_have_an_opinion) Maybe you should have read the beginning of the article. He was not stopped…..HE FLED, he didn’t pull over. They had no clue who he was. Running plates only tells you who owns the car, not who is driving it at the time.

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Posted by ( I_have_an_opinion ) on November 07, 2008 at 3:33 pm

damalama, I only need to read the beginning of your post to understand you have some personality issues. By the way, YES, they knew who he was. All stops are radioed in and information available immediately.

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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on November 07, 2008 at 12:37 pm

(damalama)... I get your point and it is a good one. The unfortunate thing here is the danger innocent bystanders are put in as a result of high speed chases.
The article states “the minivan’s occupant was not injured, though her car had to be towed”... That’s great! If it was full of children who all were killed we would be having quite a different discussion today.
For… “driving on a revoked license”?

I would love to know the combined cost of this operation. Wouldn’t you?

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Posted by ( damalama ) on November 07, 2008 at 12:05 pm

—i have an opinion—it really baffles me the distance people go to try to critize police on every little thing, when themselves (meaning you) are just so completely ignorant about everything. Do you think the Trooper knew who the driver was to just go to his house and wait on him, do you think the Trooper should know what every citizen in Amherst Count looks like, should the Trooper know this ONE PERSON enough to say…hey thats Earl Jones I am going to go wait at his house…so okay lets do your stupid thinking and they do that, so what if they do go to Earl Jones house and they end up waking Mr. Jones up and he says what are you talking about my car is in the driveway only to look out and see it was stolen while he was asleep…then what I guess the Police are stupid for letting a car theif go? Do you or the trooper know that he may have just killed someone, robbed somewhere, have drugs in the car, and you are telling me that when someone runs the police should just go to a house and wait for them to show up while they go elsewhere and destory or throw away the evidence, or drugs?!So when they show up to the house in a different car they can say I wasn’t driving, you didn’t see me driving, and I don’t know what your are talking about….defense attorney’s would have a field day with that. It just so happens that in this case this moron was only driving with a revoked license, and in my opinion I don’t want idiots like himself out there in the first place because he is a danger to be on the road to have his license revoked in the FIRST PLACE. GET A CLUE BEFORE POSTING STUPID RAMBLINGS.

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Posted by ( I_have_an_opinion ) on November 07, 2008 at 8:11 am

I am just glad he was not a hard-core criminal; I hate to imagine the effort and expense to the county if he was a more serious threat to scoiety. Could they not have chased him and had just waited for him to returen home?

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Posted by ( observer ) on November 07, 2008 at 7:02 am

Why didn’t the idiot just pull over? he would have been a lot better off than sitting in jail under no bond.

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