Police said a man suspected of having a connection with a series of armed robberies in James City County was captured following a high-speed chase Wednesday night.
Mark Lshaun Perry-Mitchell, 19, of Hampton, is charged with three counts of robbery, three counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The Virginia State Police said troopers tried to pull over a stolen Ford Focus on Interstate 664 at around 8:32 p.m. Wednesday but the driver, later identified as Perry-Mitchell, sped off.
The driver “continued at a high rate of speed through the city of Newport News and into the city of Hampton,” according to a news release from State Police.
Perry-Mitchell got out of the car after it struck another vehicle on Coliseum Drive and Mercury Boulevard, police said. He and a “female occupant,” were captured a short time later.
Information on the female passenger’s identity or potential charges was not immediately released.
Perry-Mitchell also faces charges in connection with the stolen vehicle and possession of a stolen firearm, police said, adding the 2016 Ford Focus was reported stolen in Suffolk.
James City County incidents
Police said the Perry-Mitchell’s James City County charges stem from the Nov. 22 robbery at the Citgo at 5443 Richmond Road, the Nov. 22 robbery at the 7-Eleven at 4840 Longhill Road and the June 14 robbery from a person in the 4900 block of Grand Strand Drive.
A clerk at the 7-Eleven incident was struck in the head with a gun – the clerk suffered a “non-life-threatening” injury.
A 17-year-old Hampton boy also has been charged in connection with the incidents – four counts of robbery, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, two counts of wearing a mask in public, and one count each of grand larceny, possession of a firearm by a juvenile and malicious wounding. He is being held in Newport News Juvenile Detention Center on separate charges.