A 27-year-old James City County man is facing charges after police say he stole a vehicle and crashed it in New Kent during a chase.
Isaac De Jesus Tobar-Morales is suspected of stealing the vehicle, which a man reported was taken after he left his Toyota Tacoma unlocked with the key in the ignition at his home in the 600 block of Penniman Road around 10 p.m. Friday.
Officers were able to locate the vehicle and followed it onto Interstate 64 West, where Morales began accelerating at a high rate of speed, the police report said.
James City County officers pursued Tobar-Morales until they reached New Kent County, when the New Kent Sheriff’s Office took over the pursuit, following the car to exit 214 in New Kent.
Upon exiting the highway, Tobar-Morales crashed into a stopped 2011 BMW on the exit ramp. The alleged stolen vehicle suffered “heavy front-end damage,” said Stephanie Williams, a spokesperson for the James City County Police.
Tobar-Morales and the driver of the impacted car were transported to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center for injuries. Williams did not know the extent of the injuries of the man in the BMW, but said Tobar-Morales suffered injuries not life-threatening.
The victim of the alleged vehicle theft and Tobar-Morales do not know each other, Williams said.
Warrants were obtained for grand larceny and evading and eluding police, and Tobar-Morales was taken into custody by the New Kent Sheriff’s Office.
He faces a misdemeanor DUI charge, a felony charge of eluding and evading police, a felony charge of destruction of property, a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving and a misdemeanor charge of no driver’s license out of New Kent County.
State Police charged him with a DUI, according to a state police spokesperson.
He will appear in New Kent General District Court for those charges at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25.
