Wild I-95 Car Chase Ends in Crash

A Woodbridge man is facing criminal charges after leading police on a chase Friday afternoon down Interstate 95 and crashing his car in Spotsylvania County.

Brian Richardson, 24, was arrested after his car hit a tree on River Road west of Fredericksburg, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.

He was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure, and then was scheduled to be taken to the magistrate’s office in Stafford to be formally charged, the sheriff’s office said. The charges included brandishing a firearm, felony eluding and possession of marijuana.

An unidentified female passenger in Richardson’s car also was taken to the hospital as a precaution, the sheriff’s office said. She is not facing any criminal charges.

The chase began at about 12:40 p.m. Friday, when a Stafford emergency dispatcher received a 911 call from a motorist on southbound I-95, saying that another motorist had brandished a handgun at him at the 140-mile marker. Stafford deputies located the suspect, identified as Richardson, at the 137-mile marker, the sheriff’s office said.

Richardson appeared to pull over to the right shoulder, but then sped off. The Stafford deputies, joined by the Virginia State Police, pursued Richardson down I-95, and they spotted the female passenger, “who at times, appeared to be struggling with Richardson,” the sheriff’s office said.

While driving erratically, Richardson held a gun to his head, the police said. Reaching Fredericksburg, he exited from I-95 onto Route 3 west, taking a right onto Fall Hill Avenue (Route 639) and a left on River Road.

In the 5000 block of River Road, the police tried to force Richardson’s car off the road, but it spun around, hit a tree and then continued west. His car stopped after it hit another tree in the 6000 block of River Road.

The firearm that Richardson had brandished on the highway turned out to be a pellet gun, the sheriff’s office said. However, the police found in the car a .45-caliber handgun that had been reported stolen in Prince William County, as well as marijuana.