A Virginia trooper grabbed a teenager by his sweatshirt as he jumped off a bridge during a chase, police said.
Around 11:56 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, a trooper tried to stop a vehicle that had been reported stolen and "was wanted in connections with several burglaries" as it was traveling south on Interstate 95 near Lorton Road in Lorton, Virginia, according to a news release from Virginia State Police.
But the driver didn't stop and "sped away from the trooper," leading him on a chase, police said.
The driver eventually led troopers onto I-95 north, through Springfield and onto I-495 despite efforts from troopers to contain the vehicle and the "deployment of a tire deflation device," police said. At one point during the chase, the car lost its front right tire — but the driver kept going.
"As the suspect vehicle neared the Woodrow Wilson bridge, state police positioned themselves around the vehicle to contain and slow it down," police said.
The 17-year-old driver and 16-year-old passenger then jumped out of the vehicle as it was still moving and ran, police said. The vehicle continued rolling into the back of a trooper's vehicle.
The passenger was "apprehended by state police without further incident." But the driver jumped onto a railing of the "thru lanes," police said, and troopers yelled for him not to jump as the Potomac River was underneath.
The teen then let go of the railing — but a trooper reached him in time to catch him by his sweatshirt, police said.
The trooper held onto the teen by his sweatshirt as he dangled over the river until another trooper ran over and helped pull him back over the railing and onto the pavement, police said.
Both teens were taken to Fairfax Juvenile Detention, and the driver was charged with "one felony count of eluding police," police said. Troopers also "notified the jurisdictions investigating the burglaries and several robberies associated with both males."
No other information about the incident had been released as of Monday, Nov. 22.
Lorton is in northern Virginia, about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. and about 90 miles north of Richmond.
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