South Carolina man arrested for attempted murder after causing series of accidents in Stafford

Rome, Washington.

A South Carolina man is in jail this morning for allegedly causing a series of intentional crashes on U.S. Route 1 in Stafford County last night before officers pulled his vehicle over to stop the rampage.

According to a press release, on July 1 at 6:05 p.m., First Sergeant DW Fetterolf of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office discovered the aftermath of an accident near the intersection of Richmond Highway and Coachman Circle. Deputy XD Bates came to assist and they learned that a southbound Subaru SUV had intentionally struck a southbound BMW motorcycle from behind.

The impact threw the motorcyclist onto the hood of the Subaru before he fell out of the vehicle onto the pavement. The motorcyclist suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The Subaru driver continued south from the scene of the accident. The suspect then intentionally and unprovokedly collided with the passenger side of a Ford F-150 on the side of the road, pushing the truck toward the guardrail. The driver of the F-150 was not injured.

First Sergeant MR Flick and Sergeant JD Hurt observed the Subaru as it passed Courthouse Road and attempted to stop it. The suspect refused to stop and increased his speed to over 100 mph. The suspect passed several cars across the double yellow line, failed to stop at red lights and maintained a reckless speed. Officers attempted to deploy a tire pressure valve at Centreport Parkway but were unsuccessful.

Hurt performed a precision immobilization maneuver (PIT) near Enon Road. The Subaru spun 720 degrees and then rolled over as it drove up the grassy embankment. The suspect, who was uninjured, was taken into custody.

The suspect was identified as Rome Washington, 40, of Columbia, South Carolina. He was charged with attempted murder, driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, fleeing to complete a crime, hit and run, attempted assault, vandalism, driving ahead of the right hand side, failure to obey a traffic signal and driving while holding a cell phone.

He was held without bail at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.