Drones Help End Manhunt In Stafford: Police

STAFFORD, VA — A man in a stolen vehicle who robbed two area gas stations at gunpoint Monday night and early Tuesday was arrested with the help of drones Tuesday afternoon after ditching the vehicle and hiding in the woods for some 10 hours, according to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office.

Michael Anthony Pixley Jr., 25, of Temple Hills, Md., was charged with robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, felony eluding and reckless driving. Spotsylvania County Police has a robbery warrant against him. Also, he may be charged with various felonies by Fairfax County Police.

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Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to an armed robbery that had just occurred at Mr. B's Exxon on Warrenton Road. The victim told police the subject was was black male with a silver handgun who fled the area in an unknown area.

Earlier in the night hours, Spotsylvania County Police had issued a lookout for an armed man who had robbed a Sunoco station in the Southpoint area. The description of the man was the same as the one provided by the Mr. B's employee, and he fled the second scene in what was described as a silver vehicle with damage to the passenger door.

Stafford police set up lookouts at various points along Interstate 95 in an attempt to spot the vehicle. A little after 1:40 a.m., police saw a silver vehicle with damage to the passenger side on northbound I-95 at the 140 mile marker. An officer began following the vehicle while running the licence plate information. Turns out the vehicle had been stolen in Fairfax County during a carjacking on Sunday.

Police tried to stop the vehicle in the area of Jefferson Davis Highway and Garrisonville Road but it sped up and then made its way to I-95 South, where it then took the Courthouse Road exit and turned north onto Austin Ridge. Other units in the area set up spike strips which cause tires to deflate. That's exactly what happened in the area of Providence Street and Green Spring Drive, and the vehicle came to a stop shortly thereafter.

That's when Pixley got out and ran into the woods. Police launched a manhunt, setting up a large perimeter in the Austin Ridge and Hampton Oaks neighborhoods, prompting two area schools to go on partial lockdown. K-9 units were brought in for tracking, as were drones, which spotted the suspect four times during the night and early morning hours. Finally, after a 1o-hour search, he was found and arrested in the median strip of I-95 at the 140.9 mile marker.

Photo: Stafford County Sheriff's Office