Botetourt County sheriff鈥檚 deputies on patrol late Friday pursued a vehicle speeding on U.S. 460 until it crashed into a construction barrier at a Sheetz under construction in Blue Ridge, according to the sheriff鈥檚 office.
After the crash at approximately 11:45 p.m., two people left the wrecked vehicle and fled, dropping firearms along the way. The vehicle, later determined to have been stolen from Campbell County, had been traveling 87 mph in a 60 mph zone.
The sheriff鈥檚 office deployed a Tactical K-9 Tracking Team, focusing on the Rainbow Forest and Knollwood neighborhoods. More weapons were recovered during the search. The county warned residents in the affected neighborhoods through its Code Red public alerting notification system. Multiple sightings of the suspects were reported overnight, many of which were confirmed by residential doorbell camera footage, the sheriff鈥檚 office said.
Just after 9 a.m. Saturday, deputies caught a 16-year-old boy from Lynchburg in woods near Gospel Light Baptist Church off Alternate U.S. 220. A second suspect is believed to have escaped by stealing a vehicle in the Knollwood neighborhood earlier Saturday morning. Deputies are working with surrounding jurisdictions in the effort to located the second suspect.
