2 charged after attempting to run down Virginia trooper in stolen car

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Two suspects have been charged after Virginia State Police say they tried to run down a trooper in a stolen vehicle. 

Police say at approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, a stolen silver Kia Optima was spotted parked on Franklin St. in Alexandria. The trooper pulled up closer to the car to confirm the license plate matched the one of the stolen vehicle. 

The trooper got out of his patrol car and approached the Kia. He told the driver and passenger to get out but the male driver instead accelerated directly towards the trooper. 

The trooper was forced to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. The Kia then rammed the trooper's patrol car, fled the scene and ran over a street sign as it turned onto S. Washington St.

The trooper jumped back into his patrol car and began to pursue the driver. As they approached the intersection of Duke St., the trooper was able to stop the vehicle. 

Once the Kia came to a stop, the driver and passenger fled on foot.

Moments later, the trooper caught up on foot with the passenger, a 30-year-old man from Washington, D.C. He was taken into custody without further incident.

Two citizens who witnessed the incident ran after the driver, a 34-year-old man from Washington, D.C., and detained him. An Alexandria police officer then took him into custody.

The driver and passenger were both taken to Alexandria Hospital for medical evaluation of non-life threatening injuries sustained during the vehicle collisions. Neither the Virginia state trooper nor his K9, which was in the patrol car when it was rammed by the stolen vehicle, was injured.

The incident remains ongoing and charges are pending against both men.