I-64 shooting suspect has criminal record

The suspect in the Interstate 64 sniper shootings has a history of stealing pickups, joyriding and arson, according to records and investigators.

Prior to his arrest today, Slade A. Woodson had been charged in January 2007 with two felony counts of auto theft and two felony counts of arson.

Woodson, a 19-year-old Afton resident who attended Western Albemarle High School, later was found guilty of reduced charges, misdemeanor petty larceny and destruction of property. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with six months suspended, according to court records.

“I wish we could have nipped this in the bud back then, but unfortunately we couldn’t,” said William Clark, an investigator with the Albemarle County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Clark said that Woodson would steal trucks and “dog ’em” - or drive them fast and hard - and then set them on fire once the trucks broke down.

As a high-school student, Woodson was a member of the junior varsity football team and an accomplished pole-vaulter for the indoor track team, according to past reports in The Daily Progress.