There may have been some scary moments for motorists at the intersection of Iron Bridge Road and Deerfield Drive on May 28 when a school bus went out of control and crashed at 1:39 p.m. The bus “which did not have any students on it, was traveling east on Iron Bridge Road approaching the intersection with Deerfield Drive,” police spokeswoman Liz Caroon said. The vehicle in front of the bus stopped quickly for a red light. The bus driver swerved to the right, Caroon said, and struck a sedan and a minivan and a street sign. The driver then swerved…
Browsing: Courts
Employees of Home Depot helped rehabilitate a water-damaged building at 500 Baptist Drive last year. (Caleb M. Soptelean) Last summer, the Guardians HOPE Center received help rehabilitating a building at the site of a former Bible college. Now the center’s leaders have been ordered by a judge to cease all uses of the property until they come into compliance with zoning or modify a conditional use permit. In an April 30 ruling, Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge Edward A. Robbins Jr. ordered Chris and Stacy Lane, David Lee and Whitmell Investment Group to cease all uses of the property at 500…
A Guatemalan national residing in the U.S. illegally was sentenced to a total of four years in prison last week for killing a 4-year-old boy in a two-vehicle crash Aug. 25 last year. Jose Armelio Gonzalez-Flores, 29, was given a total of 20-plus years with all but four years suspended. Judge Frederick G. Rockwell III sentenced Gonzalez-Flores as part of a plea agreement to 10 years, all suspended, for cocaine possession; 10 years, with all but 3 1/2 years suspended, for involuntary manslaughter; and six months for driving on a suspended license. A charge of felony hit-and-run was dismissed as…
Michael Chernau, a deputy Chesterfield County attorney, was recently awarded the A. Robert Cherin Award by the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia Inc. Chernau got the award for exemplary public service. He is the third attorney from the Chesterfield County Attorney’s Office to win the award. The A. Robert Cherin Award for an Outstanding Deputy or Assistant Local Government Attorney honors one who has demonstrated exemplary public service that reflects a personal commitment to the highest ethical and professional principles. “The award was created to recognize what Mike gives Chesterfield County every day,” Chesterfield County Attorney Jeffrey Mincks said. “Mike…
What neighbors describe as a ‘quiet neighborhood’ was disturbed recently when an 87-year-old resident was killed at 6718 Wentworth St. A 16-year-old who has been charged with murder in the April 2 death of 87-year-old Bensley resident Bryan H. Walker had his initial court date in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court last week. An April 16 report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch identified the youth as Raphael Angel Vargas, whom a next-door neighbor of Walker’s said lived two doors down from Walker on Wentworth Street. The daily newspaper said Vargas faces nine charges, including the first-degree murder and robbery of…
Carlos Menjivar A 21-year-old man residing in the country illegally had firearms, ammunition and forgery charges withdrawn Feb. 21 by the Chesterfield commonwealth attorney’s office, with the case scheduled to be picked up by the U.S. attorney’s office. Carlos Maurice Azucar Menjivar was arrested Sept. 25 at the Moore’s Lake area off Jefferson Davis Highway. A blue Chevrolet sport utility vehicle that he was driving displayed a tag in the windshield that belonged to an Acura owned by a woman, a court document states. Menjivar had been charged with possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, possession of a…
A Chesterfield resident has been charged with snake possession. Matthew R. Miller was recently issued nine summonses charging him with possessing a wild or exotic animal – all misdemeanors – in violation of county code. The summonses were dated March 25. He is scheduled to be in Chesterfield General District Court at 9 a.m. June 12. County animal services director Carrie Jones said Matthew R. Miller, 44, of the 3600 block of Thurston Road, reportedly had nine western diamondback rattlesnakes, but only eight were found after a warrant was issued. The snakes were seized and transferred to a Richmond resident…
A Chesterfield Fire Marshal and county police arrested Chester resident Staci D. Austin, 46, on March 29 and charged her with one count of arson for a March 17 two-alarm fire at Interstate Inn in the 2100 block of Indian Hill Road. Austin is being held at the Chesterfield County Jail. One person suffered life-threatening injuries, and three county police officers who suffered smoke inhalation were transported to a hospital. Fire officials said that 33 people were displaced, including 26 adults and seven children. Upon arrival, Capt. Joe Harvey of Chesterfield Fire and EMS said firefighters found heavy fire showing…
The driver of a dump truck involved in a fatal crash that occurred in the 17200 block of Genito Road on Feb. 13, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in relation to the incident. Samuel M. Allebaugh II, 57, of the 3200 block of Tanners Way, turned himself in March 28 after police obtained a warrant the same day. Police said a 1999 Ford F-Series dump truck was traveling on Genito Road when it went partially off the road, the driver overcorrected, and crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a 2009 Honda Accord. The driver of the Honda, Karen E.…
Front, from left, Ayesha Meekins and Gabriela Philingane; back, Ambrosia Mosby, Catherine Gray and Greg Overholser. Chesterfield’s Commonwealth Attorney’s Office recently hired five prosecutors to bring its attorney staff to full strength. (JOANNA HARTSOOK PHOTOGRAPHY) The new employees are Gabriela Phillingane, Catherine Gray, Ayesha Meekins, Ambrosia Mosby and Gregory Overholser. Phillingane most recently served as an assistant state attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in domestic violence prosecutions and secured that office’s first conviction under Florida’s new “revenge porn” law. Phillingane is a bilingual English-Spanish speaker. “Having Spanish language fluency in our attorney corps allows us…