Hampton man found guilty of eluding Virginia State Trooper in New Kent

A Hampton man will spend a month in jail after being found guilty of eluding a state trooper following Monday afternoon proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court.

Sean Douglas Clem, 32, of the 600 block of Teach Street, was convicted of the offense following a contested trial. One charge each of misdemeanor reckless driving and misdemeanor driving without the proper licensure credentials were dropped prior to trial.

On June 7, Virginia State Trooper James Shaw was sitting in the median at the 205-mile marker in New Kent County, monitoring westbound traffic. Shaw noticed a motorcycle traveling eastbound at a high rate of speed and pulled his vehicle out into eastbound traffic. Shaw testified that it took him 18 miles to catch up with the motorcycle and when he was able to detect a speed on the radar, the bike was traveling 95 miles per hour in a posted 70 miles per hour zone.

Shaw activated his emergency equipment at the 223-mile marker in an attempt to pull over the driver. According to the trooper’s testimony, the vehicle sped up, reaching speeds over 120 miles per hour. The pursuit would last for another 23 miles before coming to an end at the 244.6 mile marker in Williamsburg as the motorcycle had wrecked and slowed to a stop after hitting a guardrail. When the stop was made, the trooper identified Clem as the driver and arrested him on the offense.

Defense attorney Matthew Barberro’s cross-examination questioned if the driver of the motorcycle looked back at him, focusing his case on the definition of pursuit. The trooper indicated that Clem looked back several times. The defense lawyer asked why it wasn’t in the police report, and Shaw said he didn’t write it in there.

Barberro attempted to strike the case, saying that the necessary elements of the definition of eluding were not met and that only two miles of the chase had emergency equipment activated by the officer. But Judge B. Elliott Bondurant denied the strike, pointing to how the officer couldn’t turn on the equipment until he got an accurate reading of speed on the motorcycle.

Clem elected to testify on his defense, saying that he did not see the officer in his mirrors, nor could he hear the sirens due to music in his headphones.

“I was driving the same I was,” the defendant said. “When I did see him, that’s when I did pull over.”

New Kent Commonwealth Attorney Scott Renick’s cross-examination of Clem asked the defendant if he checked the mirrors when he is in traffic. Clem responded that he does, but that he also have difficulties seeing reflections due to the size of the mirror.

Renick recalled Trooper Shaw, who testified that he questioned Clem about his reasoning for his speed and elusion.

“He admitted to me that he knew I was behind him and he drove away because he didn’t have the endorsement to operate the motorcycle,” Shaw testified.
Barberro’s cross-examination once again asked the trooper about the defendant looking back at the officer during the chase. After Shaw said he was certain that Clem did, Barberro followed it up with another question.

“If I play the footage of the entire chase, am I going to see the defendant look back?” Barberro asked the trooper.

“Yes, several times,” Shaw responded.

Barberro paused for several minutes, electing not to play the video and renewing his motion to strike.

Bondurant denied the motion to strike and spent little time finding the defendant guilty of the offense.

“To be quite frank, I don’t believe you,” he told the defendant. “You haven’t given any reason or plausible explanation for your actions.

“The trooper testified that it took him 18 miles to catch up with you,” Bondurant continued. “And the reason you ran is because you knew you didn’t have a license to ride a motorcycle, you didn’t have registration, and you didn’t have insurance. I find you guilty on the charge.”

Clem received a two-year sentence with one year, 11 months suspended (one month to serve).