Motorcycle chase ends in fenced lot

By MELINDA WILLIAMS

melinda@www.southwesttimes.com

HILLSVILLE — A 53-year-old Saltville man’s alleged attempt to flee from police on a motorcycle came to an end Wednesday morning when he entered a lot that turned out to be enclosed by a fence, according to Carroll County Sheriff J.B. Gardner.

Joey Michael Roark first made contact with authorities just after midnight Wednesday morning when he called Carroll County Sheriff’s Office to say he had been involved in a motorcycle wreck at Exit 80 on Interstate 81, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital.

Gardner said Roark asked the dispatcher to call his wife in Saltville to tell her what had happened and that he would be staying with a friend in Hillsville overnight. The sheriff said Roark then told the dispatcher that he was at the friend’s house, but the friend wasn’t home so he was inside the friend’s horse trailer.

Asked by the dispatcher why he didn’t call his wife himself, Roark claimed his cell phone wouldn’t reach to Saltville. Gardner said the man then told the dispatcher he didn’t want his wife to know his location.

After determining Roark was in the vicinity of Island Creek Road in Hillsville, officers from three departments attempted to locate him, but were only able to find his motorcycle. When authorities called Roark back, he indicated he didn’t need assistance.

Roark said he “had several years of martial arts training and wanted them to leave him alone,” Gardner stated in a prepared statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

A chase ensued around 3:44 a.m. when a deputy observed Roark’s motorcycle driving recklessly in Hillsville, Gardner said. The motorcycle proceeded down Route 58, through the Veterans of Foreign Wars parking lot and into a fenced grassy area.

Gardner said Roark drove the motorcycle into a police vehicle upon realizing he had entered a fenced in area.

Roark, of Ridgeview Road in Saltville, is being held without bond at New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin on a charge of felony eluding law enforcement.

Written by: Editor on June 25, 2015.

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