Across Virginia

State Police say four Alexandria residents are charged with leading troopers on a high-speed chase that started on Interstate 81 in a vehicle stolen in Lynchburg — and inside the car was a firearm stolen in Winchester.. Troopers say the chase started Monday evening when the car was clocked doing 99 miles per hour on Interstate 81 in Pulaski County, and speeds during the pursuit sometimes topped 120 miles per hour. It ended two counties later at a dead-end lane in Grayson County. Police say the four suspects all took off on foot but were later taken into custody.

NEWS RELEASE: At 7:58 a.m. on Monday (April 19), Virginia State Police Sergeant D.D. Johnson was running radar on Interstate 81 in Pulaski County when an Acura sedan registered 99 mph in a posted 70 mph zone. The sergeant pulled in behind the Acura and activated his lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but the Acura refused to stop. A pursuit was initiated with the Acura reaching speeds of up to 120 mph.

The pursuit continued into Wythe County where the Acura exited the interstate and entered the Town of Wytheville. The Acura then headed south on Route 21 towards Grayson County.

The suspect vehicle continued to elude law enforcement and came to a stop at the end of Winterplace Lane in Grayson County. The four occupants then fled on foot. A search perimeter was immediately established with the assistance of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, Town of Independence Police Department, Smyth County Sheriff’s Office, Galax Police Department, the Alleghany County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshall Service.

A search of the Acura yielded the recovery of a firearm that had been reported stolen in Winchester, Va. The Acura had been reported stolen in Lynchburg, Va.

Over the course of several hours, all four individuals were located and taken into custody:

  • Malikai Robert-Elija Crawford, 21, of Alexandria, Va., was charged with possession of stolen property (Vehicle), possession of a stolen firearm, possession of firearm by convicted felon, possession of concealed weapon, reckless driving and one felony count of eluding police.
  • Reyanna Malikia Foreman, 19, of Alexandria, Va. She was charged with possession of a stolen firearm.
  • Two juvenile males, both from Alexandria, Va., were charged with numerous offenses, including possession of stolen property (vehicle) and possession of a concealed weapon.

Crawford and Foreman are being held at the New River Valley Regional Jail.

The incident remains on going at this time

Many marijuana users call April 20th — or 4/20 — as “Weed Day”, and this year, it comes as Virginia prepares to legalize possession of small amounts. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the new law’s potential impact on highway safety should not be overlooked. Spokesperson Martha Mead says numbers from other states that previously passed similar laws send a cautionary message here, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports:

Possession of up to an ounce of marijuana becomes legal in Virginia July 1st.

The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, show no new coronavirus related deaths or hospitalizations in the Roanoke Valley. There are 27 new cases among Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt Counties in the latest 24-hour reporting period.State health officials report 9 new cases in Roanoke City, and Roanoke County, 5 new cases in Salem, and 4 new cases in Botetourt County.

(Courtesy of Glenn Youngkin Facebook)

Glenn Youngkin is one of the candidates pursuing the Republican nomination for Virginia Governor and he has made improving the Commonwealth’s economy a focus of his campaign. He recently spoke with WFIR’s Clark Palmer about his economic platform and more for this Longer Listen Segment.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democratic former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has a commanding lead in fundraising as he seeks another term in the governor’s mansion, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

McAuliffe reported raising $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in politics. He ended the period with $8.5 million cash on hand, more than the rest of his four primary opponents combined.

In the seven-way GOP nomination contest, wealthy businessmen Pete Snyder and Glenn Youngkin easily led the pack in fundraising, having each loaned themselves more than $5 million.

Youngkin, the former co-chief executive of The Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private equity giant, had a slight edge in cash on hand: about $3.3 million to entrepreneur and investor Snyder’s nearly $2.6 million.

Republicans have opted to pick their nominee at an unassembled convention next month; Democrats will winnow their field in a primary in June.

Former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy posted the second-highest fundraising haul on the Democratic side, raising more than $1.8 million and ending the quarter with more than $2.3 million cash on hand.

In an email Friday, her campaign wrote that the latest fundraising numbers show the other Democratic candidates in the race — state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, Del. Lee Carter and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — “do not have the resources to compete in Virginia, which includes one of the nation’s most expensive media markets.”

The McClellan and Carter campaigns pushed back at that characterization. Both candidates were prohibited from fundraising during part of the quarter when the General Assembly was in session.

McClellan, who reported raising about $635,000 during the first quarter of the year, also announced Friday that she had nearly $1.5 million in pledged donations for the second quarter.

“Our campaign is picking up momentum at just the right time,” McClellan campaign manager Rachel Perry said in a statement.

Carter, a self-identified socialist, reported raising nearly $139,000 and ending the quarter with about $89,000 cash on hand. His campaign manager, Josh Stanfield, said the campaign has plenty of money to fund its strategy of targeting voters who supported U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in last year’s presidential primary and added the campaign doesn’t see the need for expensive TV ads.

Carroll Foy, who’s promising to enact limits on campaign finance contributions in a state that currently has virtually none, has benefited tremendously from the support of one wealthy couple.

The reports show about 40% of her donations came from either the political action committee associated with Clean Virginia, a group started by Charlottesville investor Michael Bills to counter the influence of Dominion Energy, or from Bills’ wife, Sonjia Smith.

Fairfax, whose campaign has been dampened by two allegations of sexual assault that he adamantly denies, posted anemic results. He raised just under $100,000, according to VPAP, and was left with $20,689 cash on hand. A spokeswoman declined further comment.

Behind Youngkin and Snyder among Republicans was former House speaker Kirk Cox, who reported raising about $694,000, spending slightly more than that and ending with $310,314.

In a statement, Cox’s campaign contrasted the longtime state legislator and educator with his wealthy competitors.

“As a 30-year career public school teacher, I know what it’s like to bring home a middle class paycheck,”

Far-right firebrand Amanda Chase, a state senator often at odds with her own Republican party, raised about $113,000 and ended the quarter with about $196,000 cash on hand, according to VPAP’s analysis. Chase objected to GOP party leaders plans to hold a convention instead of a primary and has raised the possibility of a third-party bid if she loses.

Also in the GOP race are: Sergio de la Peña, a retired Army officer, who reported raising about $263,000; former think tank CEO Peter Doran who raised about $16,000; and former Roanoke Sheriff Octavia Johnson, who raised $932.

Princess Blanding, who became a prominent Richmond-area racial justice activist after the police killing of her brother and is making a third-party bid, reported raising $12,152, according to VPAP.

Virginia and New Jersey are the only states electing governors this year. Virginia’s is considered the more competitive of the two, and the contest is usually closely watched as a potential bellwether heading into the midterms.

Virginia voters will also decide races for attorney general, lieutenant governor and the House of Delegates, where Democrats will be defending their majority.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Liberty University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages after the two parted ways acrimoniously last year.

The complaint, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, alleges Falwell crafted a “well-resourced exit strategy” from his role as president and chancellor in the form of a 2019 employment agreement while withholding from the school key details about a personal scandal that exploded into public view last year.

“Despite his clear duties as an executive and officer at Liberty, Falwell Jr. chose personal protection,” the lawsuit says.

It also alleges that Falwell failed to disclose and address “the issue of his personal impairment by alcohol” and has refused to fully return Liberty’s confidential information and other personal property.

Falwell responded to a phone call from The Associated Press on Friday with a text saying he was not available to talk.

It wasn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney representing him in the matter. The AP left a message seeking comment with an attorney who has represented him previously.

Falwell’s departure from the Virginia university in August 2020 came soon after Giancarlo Granda, a younger business partner of the Falwell family, said he had a yearslong sexual relationship with Falwell’s wife, Becki Falwell, and that Jerry Falwell participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.

Although the Falwells acknowledged that Granda and Becki Falwell had an affair, Jerry Falwell denied any participation. The couple alleged that Granda sought to extort them by threatening to reveal the relationship.

The lawsuit says that Falwell had a “fiduciary duty to disclose Granda’s extortive actions, and to disclose the potential for serious harm to Liberty.”

Instead, Falwell “furthered the conspiracy of silence and negotiated a 2019 Employment Agreement that contained a higher salary from Liberty,” the suit said.

A Liberty spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the school had additional comment.

Before the Granda scandal exploded, Falwell had already been on leave after he posted a photo on social media that sparked an uproar. It showed Falwell on a yacht with a drink in his hand and his arm around a young woman who was not his wife, their pants unzipped and his underwear exposed.

The lawsuit, which alleges three counts – breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and statutory conspiracy – is seeking more than $10 million in damages.

Falwell, an attorney and real estate developer, had led the evangelical school since the 2007 death of his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who also founded the Moral Majority, the political organization that made evangelical Christians a key force in the Republican party.

In early 2016, Falwell become one of the first conservative Christians to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency, and defended him after Trump’s lewd remarks about women and sexual assault, captured in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording, became public late in the campaign.

Falwell went on to court controversy and stay in the news, vigorously criticizing Democrats online.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) – William & Mary has mistakenly sent out a message of congratulations to about 350 high school students who had applied to the prestigious school in Virginia. The school in Williamsburg said Thursday that the emails were not official letters of acceptance. Rather, they were messages signed by the school’s Public Policy Program and sent by the Office of Undergraduate Admission to applicants who had showed interest in majoring in public policy. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Thursday that the applicants had already been rejected or waitlisted. The university notified the students and corrected the mistake the next day. A school spokeswoman called it a “process error.”

The latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, show 2 new virus related deaths in the Roanoke Valley. There are 50 new cases among Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt Counties in the latest 24-hour reporting period.State health officials report 17 new cases and 1 new death in Roanoke City, 23 new cases in Roanoke County, 3 new cases and 1 new death in Salem, and 7 new cases in Botetourt County.

After three straight days of no new coronavirus deaths,  the latest numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, show 1 new virus related death  in the Roanoke Valley. There are 37 new cases and 2 new hospitalizations among Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt Counties in the latest 24-hour reporting period.State health officials report 14 new cases and 1 new deaths in Roanoke City, 16 new cases and 1 new hospitalization in Roanoke County, 6 new cases in Salem, and 1 new case and 1 new hospitalization in Botetourt County.