MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County Sheriffs Department has reported two separate vehicle pursuits within two days this week.
Berkeley County Sheriff Chief of Staff Eric Burnett tells The Panhandle News Network the first pursuit happened Sunday night just before 11:00 when Berkeley County Dispatch reported a pursuit was ongoing from Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies of a stolen 2016 Jeep Patriot that had crossed county lines and onto Apple Harvest Drive in the area of the Royal Farms. The pursuit continued onto Tuscarora Pike and also involved the West Virginia State Police.
“Cpl. D. Walker began to assist other law enforcement units and was able to bring this pursuit to an end utilizing a Tactical Vehicle Intervention (PIT) at the entrance ramp to I-81 SB 13MM,” Burnett reports.
Officers located multiple stolen items inside the stolen vehicle, reportedly stolen from the Charles Town Walmart. Small amounts of suspected fentanyl were located on both occupants of the vehicle.
The passenger of the vehicle was identified as Lakeesha Phillips, 37 of Hagerstown. She reportedly resisted when officers tried to get her out of the vehicle. She was bitten by a police K-9 officer.
Both she and the driver of the vehicle, William Donald, 35 of Hagerstown were transported to Berkeley Medical Center for treatment and then transported to Eastern Regional Jail to await arraignment for felony charges. The press release from the BCSD reports charges include Transferring/Receiving Stolen Property, fleeing with reckless indifference and destruction of property, but it is unclear if both face the same charges.
The second pursuit happened Monday night around 11:30.
A press release from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department reports Sheriff’s Deputy Cooper was on I-81 SB at approximately the 17MM in the middle lane of traffic when a Dodge Charger passed by him “at a very high rate of speed.”
The deputy gave chase, “but due to construction and other traffic, the offender was able to get off I81 at the 14 mile marker.”
The chase continued west on Dry Run Road. As the deputy approached Lost Road, the suspect vehicle nearly struck the front end of his cruiser heading the opposite way. The deputy turned around and pursued the suspect vehicle to Tavern Road as other law enforcement officers and agencies assisted.
The Charger “ran off the roadway to the left and struck a guide-wire and then proceeded to hit a standing tree and a light pole and came to a rest in the Valley Health parking lot located at 1008 Tavern Road.”
Officers apprehend the male driver the juvenile female passenger. Both were transported to Berkeley Medical Center for treatment.
The driver, Carlton James, 19 of Emmitsburg, Maryland was subsequently placed under arrest for Fleeing with Reckless Indifference and transported to the Eastern Regional Jail.
The 17-year-old female passenger was turned over to her mother at Berkeley Medical Center. A Juvenile Petition is pending on the female, according to the press release from the BCSD.