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

DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995                   TAG: 9508070130
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CRASH DESTROYS POLICE CAR

A state police car was struck and destroyed Saturday evening as it pulled across a median in Christiansburg while pursuing a car.

No one was seriously injured.

State Police Sgt. M.D. Dowdy said Sgt. Steve Chumley was headed north on Roanoke Avenue near the Cracker Barrel restaurant when the accident occurred.

Chumley had seen a car headed south commit a traffic violation and turned to chase it, Dowdy said. But a van blocked Chumley's vision and he pulled in front of a car driven by Winfrey Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's car had an estimated $1,500 in damage.

Fitzgerald complained of an aching knee and was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital, where he was treated and released, Dowdy said.

No charges have been filed.

by CNB