PETERSBURG − Two Florida men are in custody after leading state police on a high-speed chase off Interstate 85 and eventually crashing the car in downtown Petersburg Thursday night.
State Police Sgt. Jessica Shehan said one of those people in custody was let out of the vehicle shortly before it crashed at the intersection of Liberty and Harrison streets near First Baptist Church.
It all started shortly before 5:30 p.m. at the 41-mile marker on I-85 northbound in Dinwiddie County. Shehan said a trooper clocked a 2022 Kia SUV going 85 mph in a 70 mph zone. That trooper tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver kept on going.
The chase lasted for more than 20 miles before the driver veered off the highway at the Squirrel Level Road exit with the trooper in tow.
Shehan said the SUV stopped long enough to let a passenger out, but sped off again on Halifax Street toward downtown. The pursuit continued until the SUV driver struck a utility pole.
After the SUV crashed, the driver ran from the scene, but was eventually caught.