In the midst of a major snowstorm Monday, a man fled from the Virginia State Police on the Capital Beltway and escaped into a system of storm drains, according to a police account.
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On Monday evening, after about three hours of searching in the Alexandria, Virginia area of Fairfax County, police said they were told someone had been seen emerging from a manhole that apparently gave access to the drain system. Police said they were looking for the man Monday night.
Authorities traced the start of the episode to two crashes that happened on the Beltway’s outer loop near Eisenhower Avenue, a few miles outside Washington, D.C. Around 2:40 p.m., as troopers were investigating those incidents, a third crash occurred behind them. The drivers involved in that collision were told to move to the shoulder and stay in their vehicles.
But soon matters took an unexpected turn. One of the two drivers suddenly sped off, and police pursued. Before the driver got a mile down the road, he crashed again, police said.
This time, he left his car and, on foot, crossed both the inner and outer loops of the multilane highway and fled into the woods, according to police.
Those pursuing saw him head into a storm drain. They ordered him to stop in English and in Spanish, but those orders were not heeded, police said.
Instead, they said, the man appeared to continue to make his way into a drainpipe system that became narrower. The diameter of the pipe reduced to about a foot and a half, “making pursuit difficult,” police said in a statement.
Police found nearby access points to the drain system and stationed themselves there to wait for the man to emerge. They also sent a drone into the pipe but encountered problems with its electronic signal.
After about three hours, troopers found another opening to the drain system about a quarter-mile from where the man had entered, they said.
An area resident told of seeing someone come out of the manhole about a half-hour before police arrived.
Police said they were working to obtain warrants for the man on charges of felony hit-and-run and eluding.
Monday was one of the snowiest days in several years in the Washington area, with freezing temperatures, and motorists were urged to stay off the roads as much as possible.