Early Saturday morning, while the rest of Charlottesville was asleep, the driver of a Jeep Cherokee sped from a University Police officer, eventually flipping the car onto its side and fleeing the scene.
The Jeep, bearing North Carolina license plates, caught University Police Officer Craig Martin's attention as its wheels screeched, making a right turn onto Rugby Road, coming off of Chancellor Avenue. The car proceeded to make an immediate left, going the wrong direction onto University Way.
Officer Martin was sitting in his patrol car on University Way next to the University Legal Services building when the car passed him at about at 3:30 a.m.
"He was going the wrong way pretty fast, so I turned around really quickly and pursued him -- I thought it was a DUI," Martin said.
Martin estimated the car was going 50 mph, well over the 25 mph speed limit.
As the driver attempted to make a left turn going the wrong way onto University Circle this time, he lost control of the car and hit a stone wall in front of 44 University Cir. The car flew up into the air and flipped onto its side, with the driver's side on the ground, Martin said.
The driver proceeded to crawl up out of the front side passenger door, jump out of the car and run down University Circle barefoot, leaving his Timberland boots behind.
Officer Martin described the driver as a black male with dreadlocks. Martin added that the driver got away before he even had a chance to get out of his patrol car.
Eyewitnesses to the incident, including two undercover police officers on University Circle, said the man was running through yards towards the back side of the University Circle neighborhood.
While University police officers were investigating the accident scene, they found a can of Natural Light beer that had fallen out of the driver's side window as well as a wallet with identification in the back seat.
No information has been released about the status of the driver.
"The incident is still under investigation, and I don't want to hinder it in any way by releasing premature information," University Police Sgt. Tracie Craner said yesterday.
Craner added that the first officer on the scene initiates and follows through with the investigation of the accident.
Collier's Wrecker Service towed the vehicle less than an hour after the accident and after several failed attempts to tip the car back onto its wheels. The car had only dragged on its side, causing the gas tank to leak. The wrecker service eventually braced the bottom half of the car after successfully tipping it.
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