News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | September 19, 2026
Local News
Alleged teen car thief captured after three-hour manhunt in New Kent
A teenager accused of stealing a car in James City County and driving the vehicle into New Kent County is in custody following a three-hour manhunt conducted today (Tuesday) by New Kent sheriff’s personnel and units from the state police. The teen, a male age 14 and said to be from James City, eluded authorities in a wooded area in the eastern part of the county until New Kent Detective Sgt. Donald Mehalko spotted the youth near the Stage Road/Kent Flats Lane intersection and made the arrest. Deputies, meanwhile, recovered the stolen car, a late model Oldsmobile, behind the Circle…
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Eltham 7-Eleven robbed at gunpoint
New Kent Sheriff’s Office is seeking information on an May 6 early morning armed robbery at the Eltham 7-Eleven store on Route 33 (Eltham Road) in New Kent County. At approximately 1:08 a.m., two men entered the store and approached the clerk. One suspect displayed a handgun to the clerk while the other took an undisclosed amount of cash. The clerk was the only person inside the store at the time of the robbery, but was not harmed. The crime lasted only a couple of minutes before the suspects escaped on foot. No vehicle description was given. The two suspects…
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Update: North Courthouse Road to shut down for construction May 12-15
North Courthouse Road (Route 155) in New Kent will be closed to thru traffic next week. Starting May 12 and concluding May 15, VDOT will commence replacing drainage pipes between the intersection of Courthouse Road and Pocahontas Trail (Route 60) up to the Charles City/New Kent border. Motorists are expected to use Route 618 (Adkins Road) as a detour during this time.
Marengo Management pulls out of Historic School renovation project
New Kent Supervisors are headed back to square one on converting the county’s Historic School into an elementary school in the wake of the project’s contractor pulling out. In an April 28 letter to county administrator Rodney Hathaway, Marengo Management Corporation president E. Taylor Moore Jr. announced his company is withdrawing from the renovation project. Supervisors at today’s work session accepted Moore’s letter. The company president cited two major factors playing into the decision to terminate. First, Moore complained that the project scope has changed frequently. He noted the first layout called for an upper elementary school housing grades 3-5,…
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Charles City supervisors approve near $20 million budget for 2014-15
Charles City supervisors approved a $19,948,454 budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year during an April 29 recessed meeting. A four-cent tax increase over an equalized rate on real estate tax also passed unanimously. The county’s real estate tax rate will increase from 68 cents to 72 cents per $100 of assessed value. Contributing to the new rate is the county’s reassessment, which indicated the value of land increasing by three percent. Currently, the county is charging 70 cents per $100 of assessed value, thanks to a two-cent increase last year to support 24-hour fire and EMS services. Representatives chose to…
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NK board makes decision on stormwater law
A controversial stormwater ordinance that’s plagued New Kent supervisors over the past several months has forced them to choose a route that would maintain county control of the program. County representatives elected 3-2 at Wednesday’s work session to operate the stormwater management program, foregoing an option for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to handle the issue. The ordinance crossed the path of supervisors last October with members of the county’s Planning Commission passing it, despite their dismay. The following November, DEQ representative John McCutchen was the recipient of opposition and concerns from citizens and supervisors. Now, with a July…
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VDOT announces plan to improve safety at dangerous New Kent intersection
A Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) plan to improve safety at what has been labeled the most dangerous intersection in New Kent County has received the blessing of the county’s Board of Supervisors. VDOT interim residency administrator Marshall Winn outlined the plan to correct the situation at the intersection of Route 155 (Courthouse Road) and Kentland Trail during today’s monthly work session. The plan calls for eliminating the center lane where Kentland Trail branches into three lanes approaching the intersection from Colonial Downs and Brickshire. Proposed is a double-stop for vehicles for added safety purposes. There will be a right…
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Public firearm range under consideration in New Kent
An outdoor firearm range open to all county residents could be in New Kent’s future provided one Board of Supervisors member has his way. District 4 representative Ron Stiers says he is fulfilling a campaign promise by introducing the shooting range concept to county officials and pushing for approval. County administrator Rodney Hathaway says his office is exploring the possibility. But beyond that, there is nothing to indicate that gun enthusiasts could soon be opening fire at a target/practice facility. “There’s no definite answer yet since we’re still in the early stages,” Stiers said in an interview last week. “But…
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Three captured in drug sting accept plea deals in NK Circuit Court
Three defendants arrested during a November sting operation by the Twin Rivers Drug Task Force accepted plea deals during Monday afternoon proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court. Michael Anthony Winston, 45, of the 2300 block of Gray Street, Richmond, the prime target of the operation, accepted a plea deal to three counts each of cocaine distribution (first offense) and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In a summary of evidence, Winston admitted that last Nov. 14-20, he sold the substance to an undercover informant near the intersection of North Henpeck Road and Route 249 (New Kent Highway). Under the plea agreement, he…
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Retrial denied, but sentence reduced for Henrico man involved in Charles City shooting
A Henrico man will serve a 29-year prison sentence after his request for a new trial was denied by Judge Thomas B. Hoover. JoQuan W. Hawkins, 21, of 2 West Gerald Street, learned his fate during Charles City Circuit Court proceedings Friday afternoon. Hawkins was convicted during a two-day trial last August on three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle, two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, and one count each of aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding. Those convictions stemmed from an altercation in 2012 in which the defendant fired 13 shots into a…
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