NORFOLK, Va. – According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, a man wanted in Virginia crashed his vehicle into a West Virginia gas facility, causing a gas leak, and later died from his injuries.
31-year-old Daniel Chad Waller of Norfolk was a “wanted fugitive from Virginia by several agencies,” according to a police report.
Dunbar Police Chief William Moss told reporters that day the suspect was a fugitive from Mississippi. The report does not reference charges in Mississippi. It is unclear what, if any, charges Waller faced in Mississippi, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
However, the report does say that Officer Moss was parked on the parking lot of Go-Mart on 10th Street in Dunbar, West Virginia, on March 11.
Around 9:50 a.m., the driver of a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo was seen driving northbound on 10th Street with a cellphone to his ear. As the driver pulled alongside a gas pump, Moss turned on his emergency lights and pulled in behind him, the Charleston Gazette-Mail stated.
Waller apologized to Moss, saying that he was checking on his child who was in the hospital.
Waller originally told police he was “Daniel Chad Wallace,” born August 17, 1988, and that the vehicle he drove was borrowed from a friend, according to the report.
Moss was not able to identify him using DMV records, so another officer, Lt. Shafer, arrived with a fingerprint scanner. During the scanning process, officers learned the man was actually Waller.
The driver then began to drive eastbound on Dunbar Avenue, the report says. Waller failed to stop for Shafer, who had emergency lights and siren turned on.
The pursuit continued until a railroad crossing where Waller lost control of the vehicle, crashed into a telephone pole and then a cinder block building that belonged to Mountaineer Gas, the Gazette-Mail reported.
When Waller crashed into the gas building at intersection of Wilson Street and W.Va. 25, a gas leak was caused that shut down traffic for about an hour. Dunbar firefighters removed the man from the wreckage. He was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center.
The police department released the report following a Freedom of Information Act request from the Gazette-Mail.
The police report does not say what charges Waller faced in Virginia, but it does say he was a fugitive and wanted “by several agencies.” Waller died April 8 as a result of his injuries from the incident.
A spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police said she could not say if or what charges Waller was wanted for in that state, saying state law prohibits law enforcement from disclosing a person’s criminal record.
A spokesman for the Virginia state Supreme Court said the court had no records of Waller’s criminal history.
An obituary published April 17 for a Daniel Chad Waller, with a birthdate matching the one in the police report says that Waller died March 8 in Charleston following a car accident.
Waller was born in Richmond and is survived by a wife and three daughters, according to the obituary.
