UPDATE: Charges Dropped in Prince William County Case

GAINESVILLE, VA — Felony charges were dropped against a man arrested in October 2018 for incidents that took place in Gainesville and Woodbridge. The charges of malicious wounding and felony hit-and-run against Shingai Marandure, of Woodbridge, were dropped at a court hearing in January. The charges were related to an incident that allegedly occurred at a relative's house in Gainesville and a separate incident that occurred near his home in Woodbridge. He agreed to plead guilty to driving while intoxicated and unreasonable refusal.

On Oct. 28, 2018 at 4:16 a.m., Prince William County Police Department officers responded to an incident in Gainesville allegedly involving Marandure that had occurred several hours earlier. After the incident but before the police were called to the Gainesville house, Marandure left the area in a vehicle to return to his home in Woodbridge. Unbeknownst to Marandure, police officers obtained an arrest warrant for him for his alleged role in the incident in Gainesville.

At around 8 a.m. on Oct. 28, police responded to the intersection of Kingsman Road and Kenny Road in Woodbridge for a reported crash of a vehicle into a tree. When they arrived, the driver —Marandure — allegedly was walking away from the car before being stopped by officers. He was deemed to be intoxicated by police and was arrested.

When Marandure appeared in court in early 2019, the more serious charges were dropped. For the DUI charge, he paid a fine and completed a driver's improvement course.