News

Actions

Driver charged in chase from Norfolk into Chesapeake says he believed his life was in danger

Posted at 11:32 AM, May 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-11 23:32:07-04

NORFOLK, Va. - The driver of a vehicle police chased from Norfolk into Chesapeake on Wednesday says he didn't realize police were chasing him and only fled because he believed his life was in danger.

News 3 spoke with Kenneth Walck, 18, in the Norfolk City Jail where he's currently being held on no bond.

Walck is charged with one count each of felony eluding, felony child endangerment, reckless driving, and hit and run property damage.

The felony child endangerment charge is due to the fact that one of the other four occupants of the vehicle was 17 years old.

Kenneth Walck

The pursuit started in Norfolk on Brambleton Avenue near Park Avenue at 9:28 a.m. Wednesday after the Norfolk Police Fugitive Squad and U.S. Marshals Task Force spotted a vehicle occupied by five people identified as armed shooting suspects in a previous incident.

Walck says he has not been involved in any shooting incidents and he didn't realize it was police who were chasing his vehicle.

Walck recalls seeing an unmarked van with men holding large guns inside. He says he didn't know they were U.S. Marshals and that he feared for his life and took off. Walck says the others in the car are people he grew up with.

He believes the charges against him aren't warranted.

"[Police] told me I wasn't even the suspect they were looking for," said Walck. "If they would have did a better job on trying to [apprehend] the suspect...If they would have did a better job, the chase would never have happened."

The pursuit came to an end at Providence Road and Rock Creek Drive, near Campostella Road, after the driver attempted to make a left turn onto Rock Creek Road, lost control, left the roadway, and hit an unoccupied parked car in a driveway.

Walck says he apologizes for hitting the parked car and endangering people's lives.

Charges are still pending in the case Walck and the other men were being pursued for.

RELATED: 

4 people in custody after police chase from Norfolk to Chesapeake