Judge Sentences Man to More Than 1 ½ Years for Eluding Norfolk Police After FLOCK Alert on Stolen Trailer
NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk Circuit Court judge sentenced Ty David Tonioli, 42, on Friday to one year and seven months in prison for stealing a trailer and motorcycles last year and for eluding officers in a stolen truck with the attached stolen trailer containing the stolen motorcycles.
On Aug. 1, Mr. Tonioli stole a white enclosed 2020 Forest River trailer in Virginia Beach. Between Aug. 2 and Aug. 11, Mr. Tonioli stole a 2010 Ducati, a 2019 Kawasaki, and a 2019 Yamaha motorcycle in Norfolk. All the stolen property was entered by law enforcement to the Hampton Roads-wide FLOCK system.
On Aug. 11, Mr. Tonioli was driving eastbound on Interstate 264 in a pickup truck with the stolen trailer attached. Norfolk Police received a FLOCK alert on the trailer’s license plate and tried to pull Mr. Tonioli over. Mr. Tonioli fled the traffic stop and continued onto Interstate 64 driving westbound at speeds up to 95 mph. Virginia State troopers assisted Norfolk Police officers during their pursuit of Mr. Tonioli, which finally ended when Mr. Tonioli ran out of gas.
When officers searched the stolen trailer, they found the stolen Ducati and Yamaha motorcycles. Officers detained Mr. Tonioli and two passengers from the truck. Mr. Tonioli subsequently admitted to stealing the trailer, stealing the Kawasaki and Yamaha motorcycles, and trading the Kawasaki for the Ducati, which he knew to also have been stolen. Mr. Tonioli also confessed to stealing the pickup truck he had been driving.
On Nov. 1, Mr. Tonioli pleaded guilty to two counts of the grand larceny of an automobile, one count of selling stolen property worth $1,000 or more, and one count of felony eluding. Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. accepted Mr. Tonioli’s plea agreement, which included a maximum active sentence of two years and one month.
On Friday, Judge Martin sentenced Mr. Tonioli to one year and seven months in prison and suspended an additional two years on the conditions that Mr. Tonioli complete two years of uniform good behavior and supervised probation upon his release.
“Mr. Tonioli stole property from multiple people and then endangered himself, the officers, and the public when he eluded the police,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Do not steal, and when the police turn on their lights, you must stop, or there will be serious consequences.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Victoria V. Kapper and Jessica L. Terkovich prosecuted Mr. Tonioli’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Mark R. Lowery led the investigation.
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