Man sentenced to 7 years in prison for high-speed car chase | Public safety

A Rochester area man was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison after leading sheriff's deputies on a high-speed chase last July.

Justin Connor appeared before Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Matthew P. Snow for sentencing on one count of misdemeanor eluding, one count of criminal driving while intoxicated having resulted in the mutilation of another, one count of driving without a license, one count of false identification. to law enforcement, one count of inadvertent endangerment, one count of improper care of animals and one count of cruelty to animals on May 23.

At approximately 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, 2023, Loudoun County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of an unconscious man in a pickup truck parked near a gas pump in Sterling. When they arrived, they observed Justin Connor and a female passenger unconscious in a black van. They had a dog in the back seat. Sheriff's deputies knocked on the vehicle's window until the occupants woke up, and when asked to roll down the vehicle's windows, Connor fled in the truck, nearly hitting the deputies . Despite being pursued by several patrol cars, Connor refused to stop and ran onto Sterling Boulevard at a high rate of speed, eventually crossing into oncoming traffic, striking several vehicles and overturning his own, injuring seriously damaging the passenger in Connor's truck and ejecting the vehicle. dog in the process.

After a trial, a jury found Connor guilty of seven counts on February 14.

During the sentencing hearing, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jordan Ferbrache and Patrick Stewart argued that Connor's actions showed a disregard for the lives of others and that Connor expressed no remorse for his actions.

“We are grateful to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office for their professionalism in bringing a quick and fair end to this dangerous encounter with Connor,” Commonwealth Attorney Bob Anderson said in the announcement.