A wild Friday night police pursuit that began in the Hermitage area, crossed into the City of Waynesboro, then north to Grottoes, ended in Harriston with a Staunton man placed under arrest.
Brandon M. Anderson, 43, faces numerous charges from the incident, which began at 9:30 p.m. Friday at a DUI checkpoint at the intersection of Route 254 and Va. 608.
Anderson approached the checkpoint in the westbound travel lane, then turned at Va. 820 to try to head back toward Waynesboro, according to sheriff’s deputies.
As a patrol vehicle approached, Anderson reportedly threw a large bag with a white substance into the roadway.
The pursuit continued east into Waynesboro, then back out into the county on Va. 865.
In an attempt to evade the pursuit, Anderson turned into a driveway, then backed out to try to reverse course back toward Waynesboro, causing a deputy to crash his vehicle.
A few minutes later, Anderson’s vehicle was spotted in the Grottoes area, and deputies set up tire deflation devices to try to stop him, but the effort wasn’t successful.
The pursuit ended up on Route 340 heading southbound toward Waynesboro, where Anderson stopped his vehicle at Va. 778 in Harriston, jumped out of his car and tried to flee on foot.
As he ran away, he reportedly threw several more bags of suspected narcotics to the ground.
All told, deputies recovered more than a pound of what is suspected to be methamphetamine from the pursuit.
Anderson is being held without bond at MRRJ.
The deputy involved in the crash on Va. 865 was transported to Augusta Health with minor injuries, was treated and released.
As the investigation continues, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office is asking for anyone who was run off of the roadway or witnessed the suspect throw anything out of the vehicle during the pursuit to call the Sheriff’s Office at 540-245-5333.
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Chris Graham
