Man Found Guilty of Eluding Police in Car He Stole From Dealership in 2023
NORFOLK, Va. — On Thursday, a judge found Zachary Turner Morgan, 22, guilty of felony eluding for stealing a car in Virginia Beach, fleeing from the Chesapeake Police, and crashing the car in Norfolk.
On March 14, 2023, Mr. Morgan pulled on door handles of cars parked outside a Virginia Beach dealership on Bonney Road, found an unlocked car, hot-wired the car, and drove away in it with two friends. That night, a Chesapeake Police officer patrolling Indian River Road saw Mr. Morgan speeding and began following Mr. Morgan to track his speed, which reached up to 100 mph. The officer turned on his lights and siren to pull Mr. Morgan over, but Mr. Morgan disregarded the officer and continued to speed up as he drove west toward Norfolk. Mr. Morgan hydroplaned multiple times as the officer pursued him, including swerving off the road and into a residential property, and Mr. Morgan eventually crashed the car when he tried to turn going 100 mph at the corner of East Berkley Avenue and Berkley Avenue Extended in Norfolk.
After Mr. Morgan crashed the car, he got out and ran off to avoid arrest. The officer who had been pursuing Mr. Morgan stopped his vehicle, ran after Mr. Morgan, found him hiding outside a house on Mahone Avenue, arrested him, and charged him with felony eluding. Mr. Morgan was originally charged in Chesapeake with receiving a stolen vehicle and felony eluding, but those charges were withdrawn by the prosecutors there.
On Thursday, Mr. Morgan pleaded not guilty to his Norfolk charge of felony eluding, and he requested to be tried by a judge. Judge Mary Jane Hall heard the evidence and arguments from the prosecution and defense, found Mr. Morgan guilty as charged, and set his sentencing hearing on Jan. 17, 2025.
“Mr. Morgan stole a car and then drove at triple-digit speeds on the surface streets of our city. He is lucky that he did not kill anyone,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “All Mr. Morgan had to do was stop when he was in Chesapeake, and he never would have been in Norfolk for us to prosecute him. He made a poor series of decisions, and we will now seek a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his conduct in our city.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Kolp is prosecuting Mr. Morgan’s case, and Chesapeake Police Officer Daniel Torres-Alegre led the investigation.
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