2 Reston Men Arrested After Attempting To Elude VA Police On I-495

RESTON, VA — Virginia State Police arrested two men from Reston in two separate incidents Thursday night, both involving a pursuit and one resulting in an attempted capital murder charge.

In the first case, VSP arrested 23-year-old Jevon T. Mark of Reston, following a pursuit in Fairfax County. He faces multiple charges, including assault on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving and one felony count of hit and run.

Around 9:54 p.m., a VSP trooper attempted to stop a Jeep Cherokee SRT that was driving recklessly on Interstate 495 near South Van Dorn Street in the Alexandria area. When the driver of the Cherokee refused to stop, the pursuit began.

During the pursuit, the driver, whom police identified as Mark, threw a firearm out the window of the Jeep. After striking the ground, the firearm hit the trooper's vehicle, according to police. At Braddock and Twinbrook roads, the Jeep struck the trooper's vehicle and then continued onto Twinbrook Road, where it came to a stop.

The trooper took Mark into custody and the discarded firearm was recovered. Two passengers in the Jeep were detained and then later released.

In the second case, VSP arrested 21-year-old Abiselome Belachew of Reston in connection with a high-speed pursuit following a report from Maryland police that Belachew had stolen a 2015 Chevrolet

VSP received a notification around 10:45 p.m. that Belachew had crossed the American Legion Bridge into Virginia driving the stolen Chevrolet. A trooper spotted the vehicle on I-495 near Braddock Road and initiated a traffic stop.

After the Chevrolet failed to stop, it sped off at high rate of speed, with the trooper in pursuit. Once the vehicle had crossed over to northbound I-395, state police used a pursuit intervention technique that brought the Chevrolet to a stop near the Glebe Road exit.

Belachew, who VSP identified as the driver of the Chevrolet, crawled into the trunk of the vehicle in an attempt to hide from the troopers. He was then taken into custody without incident.

During the pursuit, the Chevrolet slammed into one of the VSP vehicles, causing minor injuries to a trooper.

VSP charged Belachew with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, one felony count of hit-and-run of the trooper's vehicle, one felony count of eluding police, auto theft and driving on a suspended license.