Monday, July 27WATCHFUL EYE

Tag: Middle Peninsula

Truck crash leaves trailer standing upright in New Kent
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Truck crash leaves trailer standing upright in New Kent

A single vehicle trailer-trailer crash shut down part of I-64 West in New Kent for hours on Thursday. According to VSP, at about 9:30 a.m., the truck was heading westbound when, at the 200 mile marker, the raised bed hit the overhead traffic sign. VSP said the bed separated from the cab and remained upright against the damaged highway sign. The bed was finally removed at about 11 a.m. (Photo: VSP) While the hours-long response was underway, traffic was diverted from I-64 West onto county roads prompting New Kent County Sheriff’s Office to issue a message warning of heavy traffic throughout that rural county. The driver, 62-year-old Richard D. Houston, Jr. of Lorton escaped the incident without injuries, VSP reported. So far, he has been charged with reckless driving. But ...
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Mathews man charged & jailed after using 911 to make racial threats
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Mathews man charged & jailed after using 911 to make racial threats

A 34-year-old Mathews man is being held without bond after an arrest for making race-based threats. Mathews County Sheriff’s Office reported that Randal James Diggs called 911 numerous times between July and August. “In these phone calls, Diggs targeted and made multiple threats towards a specific population in our community based solely on their race over a recorded phone line.” When Diggs was arrested, MCSO said evidence was retrieved from his vehicle to substantiate some of the threats. Diggs is charged with giving a false report to law enforcement officials on individuals solely because of their race, a felony. He also faces three misdemeanor counts of threatening an illegal or immoral act with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass a person over the telephone. Diggs i...
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Essex man killed in early morning crash
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Essex man killed in early morning crash

This morning, the southbound lanes of Rt. 17, aka Tidewater Trail, in the Caret area of Essex were shut down for hours due to a fatal crash that’s now under investigation by Virginia State Police. At 4:40 a.m., VSP was dispatched to the scene at Supply Road and Tidewater Trail where there was a two-vehicle crash involving a 2018 Chevrolet pickup and a tractor-trailer. According to VSP, the pickup driver, 61-year-old Danny William Holmes, failed to stop at the stop sign and hit the tractor-tractor trailer, which was heading south on Tidewater Trail. Holmes, an Essex resident, died at the scene. The driver of the tractor-trailer, who wasn’t named, was injured, but VSP said the injuries were non-life-threatening. Follow the Watchful Eye on Twitter, Facebook, & Instag...
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Another crash on Rt. 17 bridge in Middlesex, VDOT confirms bridge replacement
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Another crash on Rt. 17 bridge in Middlesex, VDOT confirms bridge replacement

The northbound bridge over Dragon Run on Rt. 17 at the Middlesex-Gloucester line requires repair once again after another crash, this time on July 26. According to VSP Sergeant Michelle Anaya, around 2 a.m., John Fletcher of Shacklefords was driving a 2022 Ford F450 when he attempted to avoid a deer causing him to run off the road and hit the bridge and a guardrail. Fletcher was charged with failure to maintain the lane, Anaya said. Around 20 feet of bridge rail was damaged in the crash along with about 208 feet of guardrail north and south of the bridge, VDOT reported. Due to that damage, traffic has reduced to a single lane at the bridge since the incident. Double-sided car mount phone holder: $12.58 This latest crash reignited comments from some critics who believe the...
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Mathews man pleads guilty for shooting at cars
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Mathews man pleads guilty for shooting at cars

A November 2023 Mathews County Sheriff’s Report stated a male subject was in the middle of Cricket Hill Road shooting a rifle at cars. MCSO reported that one driver told police the man pointed a rifle at his windshield. Another driver reported witnessing a muzzle blast come from the barrel of the rifle and said he had to take cover and drive on the shoulder to get around the shooter. The man with the gun was 27-year-old Daniel Adam Miller of Hudgins. According to MCSO, when police responded to the scene, he was arrested without incident. Initially, Miller was charged with reckless handling of a firearm, brandishing a firearm, and public intoxication. But additional charges were added later. This week, Miller pled guilty to reckless handling of a firearm, two counts of brandishi...
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4 men beat felonies for bringing guns to Gloucester School Board meeting
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4 men beat felonies for bringing guns to Gloucester School Board meeting

Last summer, four out-of-town men were charged with felonies for bringing guns to a Gloucester County School Board meeting. Last week, on July 19, a jury found them not guilty. The charges stemmed from a previously reported incident at the July 2023 Gloucester School Board meeting. Trevor Herrin, of Williamsburg, came to the podium to offer some words of caution to school board members. He said someone slashed his tire at the school board meeting the month before. The self-described “experienced political operative” described the tire-slashing as an act of violence and told the School Board they had an opportunity to make things right. Herrin had a knife visible on the back of his belt, as shown in this Watchful Eye video. But a Gloucester deputy claimed he also spotted a gun. ...
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Chesapeake men in jail after coming to Gloucester ‘with intent to steal’
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Chesapeake men in jail after coming to Gloucester ‘with intent to steal’

Two Chesapeake men are in jail being held without bond after they allegedly traveled to Gloucester to steal $28,000 worth of equipment, Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office reported. GCSO said the men were caught on July 11 after a citizen saw and reported that someone was driving what appeared to be a new John Deere tractor on George Washington Memorial Highway, a four-lane artery that connects the Middle Peninsula to Hampton Roads. That citizen also reported that when the tractor got near Vulcan Stone, it was loaded onto a trailer. A deputy spotted a truck pulling a trailer with a John Deere, said GCSO. It was heading south, the direction of Hampton Roads. The deputy conducted a traffic stop and discovered that not only was the tractor stolen but so was the trailer pulling it. Did...
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Year of lane closures, detours in Mathews near Fort Nonsense
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Year of lane closures, detours in Mathews near Fort Nonsense

Those who use Rt. 3 / Rt. 14 to travel between Mathews and Gloucester be advised. On Monday, VDOT will begin a major bridge rahab project that will change the traffic pattern in the Fort Nonsense area for over a year. On July 8, VDOT is slated to start its $5.5 million project improving the westbound bridge over Burke Mill Stream in Mathews. By late August, the westbound lanes of Rt. 3 / Rt. 14 will be closed at Windsor Road. When the westbound lanes close, westbound traffic will be shifted to an eastbound lane on Rt. 3 / Rt. 14, which means eastbound traffic will also be reduced to a single lane. This work zone traffic pattern is expected to be in place from the August 2024 to fall 2025 “to accelerate work,” said VDOT. Westbound view at the intersection of Rt. 3/ Rt. 14 and Wi...
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Crash damages bridge at Middlesex-Gloucester line, VSP investigating
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Crash damages bridge at Middlesex-Gloucester line, VSP investigating

Virginia State Police launched an investigation into the truck crash that damaged the bridge over Dragon Run and closed one northbound lane of Rt. 17 at the Gloucester-Middlesex line. The crash occurred Monday around noon. According to VSP, Alvin T. McGowan, a 48-year-old of North Chesterfield, was heading northbound in a 2016 Volvo VHD64T. The truck ran off the road on the right side, hit a guardrail, hit the bridge, and then struck the guardrail a second time. McGowan was not injured, VSP confirmed. VDOT announced a single-lane closure on the northbound side within the noon hour, and it remains underway. The department says the closure is necessary to allow space for crews to make repairs as 60 feet of the bridge rail was damaged by the crash along with about a total of 27...
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2 Winchester men killed in Essex crash, driver charged
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2 Winchester men killed in Essex crash, driver charged

A Winchester man has been charged for an Essex County crash that led to the death of two men. The single-vehicle crash occurred last Wednesday on Route 17. Martimiano Perez Linares, age 42, was heading northbound in a 2003 Dodge pickup that was pulling a small trailer, Virginia State Police stated. In the 5300 block of Tidewater Trail (Rt. 17) Linares ran off the road to the left, overturned, and his three passengers were thrown from the truck. Jose Euglogio Cruz Gomez, 61, and Wulfrano Cruz Gomez, 41, who were both also Winchester residents, died at the scene. Linares was entrapped. After his rescue, him and Jose Angel Romero Hernandez, the 36-year-old third passenger, were flown to the hospital in Richmond, VSP stated. Hernandez was seriously injured but his injuries were not...
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