Speeding biker’s tale fails to convince New Kent judge

Testifying before a New Kent Circuit Court judge, motorcyclist Marcel Calvin Brandy insisted he neither saw the state police trooper’s car in pursuit nor heard its siren as he sped along Interstate 64, covering 14 miles with two other bikers at speeds over 130 miles per hour. The judge didn’t believe him.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover found Brandy, 29, of 510 Tailgate Terrace in Landover, Md., guilty of one count of eluding police following an Aug. 23 trial. Brandy is free on $10,000 bond until sentencing in October.

Trooper Todd Morehead told the court he had been alerted last April 4 to reports of three bikes heading east on I-64 at a high rate of speed and waited inside his cruiser in the median crossover at the 224-mile marker near the James City County line. When the bikes passed through his radar beam shortly before 9 a.m., their 76-mile per hour speed increased to 100, he said.

Morehead said the bikers split traffic and used the shoulder as they sped east, reaching a top speed of 132 miles per hour. They ignored his orders to pull over as he pulled alongside and accelerated each time he closed the gap during the chase, he said.

Near the 238-mile marker and with traffic becoming heavier, Morehead opted to end pursuit as the bikes disappeared over a hill. But as he crested the hill, two of the bikes made a u-turn, attempting to head west in the eastbound emergency lane. Morehead maneuvered his cruiser so that he pinned one of the bikes between his car and a guardrail.

The other biker attempted to escape on a nearby entrance ramp, but encountered more troopers. The third continued east and later crashed into the rear of another trooper’s cruiser.

The biker trapped by Morehead turned out to a Brandy, who was operating a 2005 Suzuki 1000, better known by its “crotch rocket” street name. Brandy claimed he did not know the other bikers, only that he hooked up with them earlier that morning.

The defendant told Hoover he did not see flashing blue lights aboard Morehead’s cruiser until he was pinned on the guardrail. He never heard the siren because he was using earphones to listen to an iPod, he said.

“The whole thing sounds idiotic,” Hoover told Brandy in disgust. “Tell me why it makes sense to be traveling with two bikers at over 120 miles per hour. What’s the reason for splitting traffic and shocking other drivers who are going 70 miles per hour?”

Brandy claimed he was not cutting in and out of traffic and had made the u-turn to assist the other biker, who he thought was having engine trouble.

“They certainly endangered themselves, the troopers, and everyone on that interstate,” Prosecutor Randy Del Rossi said in asking Hoover to find the defendant guilty.

Defense attorney Todd Duval argued that it was unclear if Brandy knew the trooper was in pursuit. He said his client could have taken other measures to escape if truly seeking to elude.

“Mr. Brandy wants me to believe he’s the oblivious, Good Samaritan biker,” said Hoover. “I find all of that to be incredible and unbelievable.”