Evington woman flees police in car chase

An Evington woman led Lynchburg police on an hour-long chase through the city, as well as Bedford and Campbell counties, Friday afternoon, according to police.

Lt. Thomas Lawton said police spotted Shernette Rivera, 45, driving with a defective taillight or brake light on Miller Drive, just off Grace Street.

According to Lynchburg emergency dispatchers, the pursuit began at 1:48 p.m. and lasted an hour.

“The officer got in behind her, put on his lights, she wasn’t stopping. He activated his siren, she didn’t stop, and she kept gradually increasing her speed,” Lawton said.

Another officer joined the pursuit, which Lawton said reached speeds of up to 80 mph on U.S. 501.

From there, Lawton said Rivera turned onto Lakeside Drive, heading back toward midtown Lynchburg, but turned around, following Lakeside to Bedford County.

At Enterprise Drive, a Bedford County Sheriff’s deputy took over as the lead car in the pursuit.

“She had to stop in traffic up at that Enterprise drive intersection, so that our two guys got out of the car and approached (the suspect) vehicle,” Lawton said, “and as soon as they got up to that car, she whipped around a couple of vehicles that were stopped at the light and kept going.”

Rivera then took Thomas Jefferson Road, until it connected with Virginia 24, in Campbell County, Lawton said.

Units eventually lost track of Rivera.

Lawton said he thought a citizen contacted Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputies, directing them to the area where they eventually apprehended Rivera, not far from her home on Town Fork Road. Lawton said her male passenger was not located.

She was charged with two felony counts of eluding police, two counts of reckless driving, one count of driving on a suspended license, and one count of defective equipment.

Lawton said Bedford County also brought charges, but he didn’t know the specifics.