During Labor Day weekend 2021, the Virginia State Police had all available uniformed personnel on patrol, conducting traffic safety and enforcement patrols as part of Operation CARE – the Crash Awareness Reduction Effort. CARE is a nationwide, government-sponsored road safety program that aims to reduce traffic accidents, deaths, and injuries due to driving disruptions, speeding, and failure to use occupant restraint systems.
Virginia State Police took part in the program, which began at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, September 3, 2021 and lasted until midnight on Monday, September 6, 2021, made 2,087 traffic checks, investigated 131 traffic accidents, and assisted 190 disabled drivers. The soldiers issued a total of 2,630 summonses, 67 of them for not wearing a seat belt, 38 for not wearing a child in a proper restraint, arrested 19 people for driving under the influence of alcohol and issued 335 warnings. These numbers apply to the Chesapeake Division only.
The following are the highlighted incidents that the Chesapeake Division of State Police investigated during the holiday weekend;
September 3, 2021
– 2:01 a.m. / Virginia Beach – A two-vehicle accident heading west on Interstate 264 east of First Colonial. A 2020 Dodge Challenger was driving in the right lane at high speed and ran into a 2008 Ford Escape which was also driving in the right lane of the I264. The driver and two passengers of the Dodge suffered serious life-threatening injuries and were taken to VABeach General Hospital. Two Ford passengers suffered serious life-threatening injuries and were also taken to the VABeach General. The driver and one other passenger were slightly injured, treated and released. This is still an ongoing investigation.
– 7:02 p.m. / Sussex County – On Interstate 95 south on the 20mm, two vehicles collided with serious life-threatening injuries, resulting in a 5.5 hour delay in lane closure and diversion by VDOT . The driver of a 2018 Toyota Camery, Daniel Garcia, drove in the right lane, made an unsafe lane change and collided with a 2012 Freightliner trailer, causing the Toyota to overturn before the TT and both vehicles to come off the lane. The Toyota’s passenger sustained life-threatening injuries and was flown to MCV, Richmond. The TT driver, Rivera Farnaldo, 43 YOA, from Florida, was not injured. Garcia was also uninjured and was summoned to change lanes in an unsafe manner.
September 4, 2021
3:49 p.m. / Virginia Beach – A soldier was on the right shoulder of eastbound Interstate 264 west of Lynnhaven Parkway with the emergency lights on, waiting for an offender to leave when he was wiped sideways and hit by a 2002 Ford panel van. The operator, Rusty Leigh Campson, 44 YOA, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was charged with reckless driving, counterfeit inspection sticker and unregistered vehicle. Neither the soldier nor Campson suffered any injuries (see attached photo).
September 5, 2021
1:39 a.m. / Chesapeake – Trooper finished an accident in the Downtown Tunnel when an unregistered motorcycle passed him at very high speed. The motorcycle, a 2009 Kawasaki, topped 110 mph and refused to stop. After a brief chase, the motorcycle rider finally stopped on Gum Road in the city of Chesapeake. Twenty-seven-year-old Anthony William Nixon of Baldwin Drive, Chesapeake, Virginia, was arrested for evading a crime, driving recklessly and not being registered.
5:35 p.m. / Accomack County – Soldiers were called in to investigate a single vehicle accident on the east coast at Block 22500 on Guards Shore Road / SR684. A 2003 Jeep Liberty driver drove at high speed, lost control, went off the lane, overturned, and overturned over a ditch. Both driver and passenger got away unharmed. The driver, 19 YO Diego Chavez, was charged with reckless driving and without a license.
September 6, 2021
2:09 p.m. / Chesapeake – Trooper watched a vehicle recklessly drive on Interstate 464 on the Military Highway and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver of a 2019 Ford Fusion refused to stop and there was pursuit associated with it. The driver exited the interstate and continued through the towns of Chesapeake and Norfolk before returning to Interstate 64 heading west at Battlefield. The driver continued to drive west in the lanes and reached speeds of over 120 MPH. The vehicle drove onto Interstate 564 and tried to exit Terminal Boulevard at high speed, lost control, went off the lane and into a guardrail. The driver, Kyree Omari Dacanay, 22 years old, of 4600 Block on Mayflower Road, Norfolk, was not injured and for reckless speeding, serious felony, reckless driving / failure to maintain control of the vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, and. arrested open container.