North Stafford, Va. –– Police were lead on a wild chase through North Stafford and Triangle early Saturday morning.
A Stafford sheriff’s deputy traveling south on Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. 1) saw an SUV headed in the opposite direction traveling at a high rate of speed. The deputy flipped on his emergency lights and began pursuit.
The deputy pulled up behind the truck and told his dispatch center he was pursuing gray Chevrolet Silverado with Oklahoma license plates traveling at 69 mph, said Stafford Sheriff’s Maj. David Decatur.
The speed limit on U.S. 1 in that area is 45 mph, but neither that nor the pursuing deputy was enough to stop the driver.
The SUV continued to the Garrisonville area where it entered Interstate 95 north, continuing its escape from police.
Traveling at speeds of more than 100 mph, the driver was swerving in-between lanes and traveling on the shoulders of the highway trying to get away, said Decatur.
The SUV then pulled off the highway at the next exit, mile post 148 at the back gate of Quantico Marine Corps Base. When the SUV came to T intersection at the end of the ramp, the driver crashed into an embankment.
Remarkably, the driver was able to back up and pull the SUV back onto the road and got back onto I-95, this time headed south.
The driver took I-95 to mile post 143 at Garrisonville Road (Va. 610), the same place where he first entered the highway.
He got off the highway and onto Va. 610, turned onto Salisbury Drive and then turned on Staffordborough Boulevard at the Stafford Marketplace shopping center.
With police still in tow, the driver went back to U.S. 1 and eventually got back on I-95 north, said Decatur.
Repeating nearly the same pattern, the driver briefly got off again at mile post 148 at Quantico’s back gate, but then got back on the highway and continued driving north to Triangle in Prince William County.
The SUV exited the highway at mile post 150 on Joplin Road at the Quantico’s main gate, but made U-turn and once again got back on southbound I-95.
This time, a sheriff’s deputy was able to deploy a spike strip and was able to flatten the tires of the SUV. Deputies then used their cars to box in the driver, who was still trying to accelerate the vehicle in another attempt to flee, said Decatur.
Both the driver and a deputy suffered minor injuries in during the chase.
Douglas William Freudenberger, 44, of Stafford, is charged with reckless driving, DUI, and with felony eluding, said Decatur.
Court records show he is also charged with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer.
Freudenberger is due in a Stafford courtroom on Aug. 5.
