CHASE YIELDS STOLEN TRUCK AND FLA. FUGITIVE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993                   TAG: 9303240185
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium
CHASE YIELDS STOLEN TRUCK AND FLA. FUGITIVE
A routine license-plate check led state police on a 10-mile, high-speed chase on Interstate 81 Sunday night because the pickup truck had been reported stolen.
The driver of the truck also turned out to be a fugitive from Florida and suspected of stealing two trucks.
Trooper L.W. Findley said he was getting ready to leave I-81 at about 10:50 p.m. at the end of his shift. But he saw a pickup truck and decided to check its tag.
"And the pickup came back stolen," Findley said. According to the information he received, the truck had been used in several break-ins in West Virginia and the person driving also was suspected of possessing firearms.
The man who was driving the truck was a fugitive from Florida on eight or nine felony charges and also was wanted there for violating the terms of his probation, Findley said.
Findley tried to stop the truck at the 86-mile marker.
"That's when he ran on us," he said.
Findley was joined in the chase by Steve Lyons, a Dublin police officer, Deputy Norman Dowdy Jr. of the Pulaski County Sherriff's Office and a Wytheville state trooper.
The pickup turned at the median at the 84-mile marker, reversing directions and headed north.
The truck's lights were turned off for about seven miles - with officers in pursuit - until the 91-mile marker northbound.
Trooper J.D. Roark became involved in the chase then, Findley said.
Roark was ahead of the truck when the driver passed him and a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of the roads. Findley said the chase had reached speeds of 110 mph.
The driver of the pickup left the interstate at Exit 92 and drove up a service road in Draper.
The truck pulled into a parking lot of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and collided twice with Roark's patrol car, striking the front and the rear.
Findley blocked the entrance of the parking lot and a man left the vehicle and ran about 100 yards over some fences before police caught him,. Findley said.
William Roe Miller, 31, of Rodenfield, W. Va., was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, reckless driving, attempting to elude police, being a fugitive from Florida and possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
A .25-caliber handgun was found in the truck, Findley said.
Miller was being held in the Pulaski County Jail. A May 18 court date has been set in Pulaski County General District Court.
West Virginia authorities came to Pulaski County Monday to talk with the man about seven break-ins and two stolen trucks, Findley said.
A passenger in the truck, Jean Stevens, 25, of Rodenfield, W.Va., was charged with possessing stolen property, Findley said.
She was released on bond Tuesday.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB