Car Stolen On I-81; Suspect Arrested After Pursuit

     A person who stopped to assist at an accident scene on Interstate 81 in RockbridgeCounty ended up having his car stolen by the driver of the crashed vehicle. The suspect would then be pursued by state police and wrecked the car in Buena Vista.

According to the Virginia State Police, at 2:23 p.m. Wednesday, the state police received the call about a single-vehicle crash in the median on Interstate 81.

The suspect had crashed a pickup truck he was operating on I-81 northbound at the 174.9 mile marker in the NaturalBridge area.  A passerby stopped to assist the driver, but then the driver of the crashed vehicle forced the passerby from his vehicle and fled northbound on Interstate 81, exiting on U.S. 60 east.

The stolen vehicle was located by a trooper traveling east on U.S. 60 at the boat locks.  The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle and a pursuit began, which ran into the city of Buena Vista.  The pursuit ended in a single-vehicle crash, near the Southern Virginia University ball fields, on U.S. 60. The suspect was taken into custody.

Roger Lee Henderson, 48, of Madison Heights, was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash and was transported by EMS to CarilionRockbridgeCommunityHospital. 

Henderson was arrested and charged with attempting to elude police.  Several other charges are pending.