The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office is searching for a man who led deputies on a police chase down Route 17 after allegedly smashing car windows at two daycare centers Wednesday morning in York County.
The suspect, described as a black man, had been seen leaving Goddard School on the 400 block of Hampton Highway — where police believe the suspect smashed open the window of an unoccupied car and stole a purse — around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday in a silver Mercedes with Florida license plates.
The car, later identified as a rental car, was found unattended in a nearby jurisdiction.
A deputy noticed the Mercedes driving down Route 17, and a pursuit commenced when the driver refused to stop, according to the news release.
During the pursuit, the suspect made an “aggressive maneuver” to cause a crash between it and a deputy’s vehicle. The collision then caused the suspect’s vehicle to hit a nearby car that had not been involved in the chase.
While the suspect continued, the deputy involved in the collision stopped to check on the citizen who had been hit. The crash did not result in major injuries, and all three cars sustained minor damage. Several deputies had already joined the pursuit and continued the chase.
Deputies believe the same suspect is not only connected to a vehicle break-in at another daycare — A-plus Child Care Center on the 3500 block of Route 17 — earlier that morning, but also to similar break-ins that have occurred in the county over the past month, said Lt. Dennis Ivey, a spokesperson for YPSO.
Ivey could not provide a specific number of cases to which the suspect is being connected.
