Contact: Teresa Hamilton Hall, Public Information Director
Roanoke County Police Department
(540) 772-2010
thall@roanokecountyva.gov
Date: January 14, 2013
Police Make Arrests in Larceny Case & High Speed Pursuit
(Roanoke County, VA) – Roanoke County Police this afternoon charged three people with grand larceny following a theft case and resulting high speed pursuit.
Grand larceny charges have been filed against the following three individuals:
• 25-year-old Kelsie Troxell of San Jose, CA
• 22-year-old Russell Schuldt of Point Richmond, CA and
• 24-year-old Matthew Wade of San Mateo, CA
The three are charged in connection with a theft that occurred at Bishop’s Fine Jewelry in the 6400 block of Williamson Road shortly after 2:00 p.m. The following is what the investigation has revealed so far. While the two male suspects were in the store one of them grabbed jewelry off the counter. The quantity and value have not yet been determined. The men then fled the store and got into an SUV-style vehicle driven by Troxell and left the parking lot.
The call was initially received as a robbery in-progress and police were dispatched to the area. As officers responded, the call information was updated to include descriptions of the suspects and a vehicle that they were believed to have used. While some officers responded to the store, others began a search of the area for the suspect SUV vehicle.
A Roanoke County police officer noticed a vehicle matching the description on Plantation Road and motioned for the vehicle to pull over. Troxell initially pulled over and stopped, but then pulled away and headed toward Interstate 81. The SUV, traveling south on I-81, next took Exit 143 and headed south on I-581. At times, the suspect vehicle was traveling at speeds in excess of 100 miles-per-hour. Roanoke County police soon stopped the pursuit due to a number of factors including: concerns over the volume of traffic on the road, wet road conditions, and information relayed from officers at the store that the crime was not a robbery but a grand larceny (even though grand larceny is a felony, it is a property crime; whereas a robbery involves violence or the threat of violence).
A few minutes later, the suspect’s vacant vehicle was spotted on Wendover Road. Two Roanoke County officers then spotted the three suspects with a dog on foot adjacent to Woodhaven Road. The three were taken into custody without incident and are being held in the Roanoke County/Salem jail. In addition to grand larceny, Troxell has also been charged with felony eluding for failure to stop for police.
The three suspects were taken into custody about 20-minutes after the theft occurred. No one was hurt.
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