Felony charges incurred during 85-mile high-speed chase certified to New Kent grand jury

Carl Byron Viar Jr.

Five felony charges, lodged against a man who led police on an 85-mile chase at speeds often in excess of 100 miles per hour over roads in New Kent and Charles City counties, are being forwarded to a New Kent Circuit Court grand jury for possible indictments.

Carl Byron Viar Jr., 25, of Amherst County, faced 18 charges in all (six each of felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic violations) in connection with the Jan. 2 incident when he appeared Tuesday for a preliminary hearing before Judge Stephanie E. Merritt in New Kent General District Court.

At the conclusion, Merritt certified five of the six felonies (eluding police, possession of a Schedule I or II narcotic, firearm possession by a non-violent felon, possession of a firearm while in possession of a Schedule I or II narcotic, and ammunition possession by a convicted felon) to the grand jury, scheduled to convene on May 18.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory motioned to drop the sixth felony (assault on a police officer) at the start of proceedings. Four of six misdemeanors along with five of six traffic infractions also were dropped.

Events began around 4:50 a.m. on Jan. 2 when State Police Trooper Matthew D. Jester detected a 2006 Ford pickup, allegedly driven by Viar, whiz through radar at 100 miles per hour near the 217-mile marker on westbound Interstate 64.

Jester testified Tuesday that he immediately engaged in pursuit, overtaking the pickup 2½ miles further west near the Providence Forge/Route 155 interchange. The pickup, however, did not stop until it pulled into the rest area about a mile beyond the interchange.

“I know there was no question the driver knew I was pulling out on him,” Jester told the court, saying he activated his vehicle’s headlights and blue light bar as the pickup approached his position in a median crossover.

Jester said the pickup drove past the parking lot at the rest area before coming to a stop.

“It went all the way to the far end of the rest area,” the trooper said, adding, “To me that seemed odd.”

Gregory played a video, recorded by the dashboard camera inside Jester’s police cruiser, for the court to see what transpired at the rest area.

On the video, Jester can plainly be heard ordering the driver to pull over. He then unleashes a barrage of questions including, “How many people in the truck?” and “Any guns in the truck?” Responses from the driver, however, are muffled and mostly inaudible.

Jester then orders the driver to “keep your arms out the window where I can see them.” He continues, accusing the driver of swerving in and out of lanes and cutting off two or three other motorists. He tells the driver the pickup came through radar at 100 miles per hour, reaching a peak speed of 123 during the chase.

Apparently the driver replies that he was unaware of the speed, to which Jester counters, “Ain’t no way you didn’t know you were going that fast.”

As the conversation goes on, Jester asks, “Are you sure you don’t have anything illegal in the car?”

The tone then appears to become more confrontational. At one point, Jester tells the driver, “Shut up and let me talk.” Testifying in court, Jester labeled the driver’s responses as “kind of lackadaisical.

“He was not really coming forward with a lot,” the trooper told the court, adding, however, that the driver claimed to be on the way to work.

Jester said he could detect a strong odor of marijuana emanating from inside the pickup. He said he ordered the driver to step out of the vehicle, but that’s when the vehicle sped away. Jester raced back to his cruiser and, along with another state police unit and a New Kent sheriff’s deputy that had driven to the scene, gave chase.

The trooper detailed the route of the 85-mile pursuit. The pickup took the off-ramp at the Talleysville/Route 106 exit but continued across 106 to the westbound on-ramp and back on to I-64. Reaching the Quinton/Route 249 interchange, the vehicle took the exit and sped east on 249 through Quinton.

The pickup turned south on 106 before making a u-turn at Pine Fork Road and returning to 249 where it continued east to Route 155. Turning south on 155, the chase rolled through Providence Forge, heading south over the CSX Railroad tracks into Charles City County and eventually reaching Route 5.

At the Route 5 intersection, the pickup turned west, continuing to Route 106 where it turned again, heading north. Just before reaching the New Kent line, the vehicle made another right turn, this time on to Barnetts Road. The chase proceeded south on Barnetts, back to Route 5 before again turning west and speeding into Henrico County.

By this time, Jester estimated, more than 100 police officers from four agencies (State Police, Henrico Police, and Charles City and New Kent sheriff’s offices) had become involved in the incident. Henrico also employed a helicopter and airplane.

Henrico officers, meanwhile, deployed spike strips on Route 5, about two miles beyond the Charles City/Henrico line. The spikes punctured two of the pickup’s tires, but the vehicle failed to stop until it turned into a private driveway off Willis Church Road. The driver fled on foot, but surrendered to authorities the next day.

Jester said speeds during the chase reached over 100 miles per hour on I-64 and routes 249, 106, and 155 in New Kent. The pursuit slowed to the 50-60 mile per hour range through Providence Forge, but increased substantially in Charles City to over 100. Speed on straight stretches of highway topped out at 120 miles per hour while averaging 95 miles per hour on Barnetts Road, he said.

Jester said he slowed his cruiser on several occasions due to the danger factor.

“At one point, I told the dispatcher I was going to back down because this is going to end not well,” he told the court.

A search of the pickup revealed a small amount of marijuana along with drug paraphernalia, including cotton swabs “containing residue consistent with heroin or cocaine,” Jester said. Also found was a bolt-action rifle and ammunition, prompting the firearm charges lodged against Viar.

The suspect’s attorney, Craig S. Cooley, told the court he did not dispute the eluding and drug charges, but had issues with the firearm counts. In motioning for dismissal of those charges, he argued that no probable cause existed.

While conceding that Cooley presented “excellent arguments” on behalf of his client, Merritt declined the motion along with the defense attorney’s request for bond or work release. Cooley said Viar, a father of three young children, is a valuable employee of the company that is owned by the senior Viar. The suspect has been held in jail since his Jan. 3 arrest.

“Given his prior record and the 85-mile chase,” Gregory told the court in arguing against bond, “the court needs to protect the public from this man.”

Viar pleaded no contest to misdemeanor marijuana possession and reckless driving charges along with a no seat belt traffic infraction. Merritt imposed six months in jail, all suspended, on the marijuana count and 10 days in jail plus a $500 fine for reckless driving.