QUICK, W.Va. — Two Kanawha County men face multiple charges involving a stolen vehicle and a high speed chase Monday morning.
Brandon Wheatley, 29, of Clendenin, and Charles Melton, 53, of Elkview, were arrested after the pursuit which started with a 2013 Dodge Charger was reported stolen in Charleston Monday morning.
“The vehicle was apparently being warmed up when an individual got into it and fled,” said Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mike Rutherford. “Shortly after the information was put out on the radio, Deputy Yeary with the department spotted it on Patrick Street.”
The driver, Wheatley, took off when the deputy tried to pull him over. The chase traveled from Charleston on Route 21 to I-77 at Sissonville, south on I-77 then north on I-79 and the car exited the interstate at Big Chimney. As the vehicle exited I-79 a tire blew, deputies said. The car crossed the Big Chimney bridge to Quick and into the Rambling Hills subdivision where the driver crashed into an embankment.
“When they got into the Quick and Rambling Hills are they were running 65 to 70 miles an hour,” said Rutherford. “When they were on the interstate they were doing in excess of 100 miles an hour.”
Both men fled the vehicle after the crash, but were soon apprehended by deputies on foot.
Wheatley is charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing an officers, obstruction, and driving on a suspended license. He’s also facing subsequent charges on a warrant from South Charleston for vehicle theft. He was arrested just over a month ago by Kanawha County Deputies for a separate stolen vehicle incident.
Melton was charged with obstruction and on an outstanding domestic battery warrant.
Both men will be lodged in the South Central Regional Jail following their arraignment.