Crime & Safety
UPDATE: Bizarre Chase Starts With Public Peeing
Man exposes himself, argues with deputy, drives drunk, knocks over power lines, blows up transformer, shuts down roadway for more than an hour in crazy incident.
When an off duty Sheriff's Deputy confronted a man urinating and exposing himself in a neighbor's yard, the man bolted and led police on a wild chase which brought down power lines and shut down a local roadway.
The incident began around 10:50 a.m. this morning when the off duty deputy saw a man urinating in his neighbor's yard in the 100 block of Hillcrest Drive. The man, 31-year-old Daryl Haynes of Spotsylvania, is accused of exposing himself in an "obvious display of his genitals to bystanders," according to the police report.
The deputy confronted Haynes and identified himself as law enforcement. Haynes then became belligerent and ran to his Chevrolet Impala parked in a nearby driveway.
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Haynes then rapidly backed out of the driveway and lost control of the car. The car spun around and hit a telephone pole next to the road, splitting it in half. Lines were severed, and a transformer on the pole broke free, crashed to the ground and exploded.
Haynes persisted, driving the Impala, now draining engine fluids, away from the scene. He turned south onto Lafayette Boulevard before ditching his car behind Powell's Market at the corner of Harrison Road. Haynes then ran, crossing the border into Spotsylvania County.
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Spotsylvania County Sheriff's deputies helped locate the man at a Shell gas station on Lafayette Boulevard, where he was arrested without incident.
Haynes was arrested for driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, urinating in public, indecent exposure and possession of marijuana. Later, police added a charge of assault and battery.
Police originally sought felony hit and run charges, but a warrant for misdemeanor hit and run was issued instead.
"Although the officer sought and expected the felony charge due to the damage caused, the warrant issued was a misdemeanor," wrote Bledsoe in an email.
Hillcrest Drive was shut down for about 90 minutes as the Fredericksburg Fire Department cleaned up the scene and Dominion Virginia Power repaired the power lines.
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