1:50 p.m. - Sept. 25, 2018
ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. - A 51-year-old Bedford County man is in custody after police say he broke into a home, led authorities on a high-speed chase and crashed the stolen SUV he was driving.
At 9:26 a.m., the 911 Communications Center received a call from a person in the 6800 block of Roanoke Road, according to Botetourt County Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle.
The caller told the dispatcher that a neighbor knocked on the door and said that someone had broken into his or her home, driven away in a beige or gold Explorer and was heading south on 220 toward Daleville.
The neighbor did obtain the tag number and gave it to the caller.
Botetourt deputies were dispatched to the scene and also were told to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle.
One of the Botetourt deputies saw a vehicle matching the description entering the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 at Exit 150.
The deputy then entered the highway to try to locate the vehicle as another deputy followed, according to the Sheriff's Office.
As the suspect's vehicle was approaching the Botetourt /Roanoke County line, the deputies caught up with the vehicle and confirmed the tag number matched.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the suspect vehicle then accelerated down I-81 and got off at exit 146 and then reentered the interstate, continuing southbound.
At exit 143, the vehicle made exited onto Interstate-581 and deputies lost sight of the vehicle but continued on I-581 in an attempt to find it.
After a short time of not locating the vehicle, at 9:42 a.m., the deputies pulled to the side of I-581 at Orange Avenue, turned off their emergency equipment and notified the Dispatch Center of their location.
About that same time, the Sheriff's Office says Roanoke County received information about a vehicle that had possibly flipped getting off southbound I-81 at the Peters Creek Road exit.
Botetourt deputies turned around and started back towards that location and learned that a Virginia Conservation Police Officer had a person in custody at the exit ramp at Peters Creek Road.
Deputies arrived and identified the suspect as Robert L. Weiss Jr., 51 of Goodview Virginia, whom they identified as the driver of the vehicle.
After it was confirmed that Weiss had no injuries and deputies confirmed Weiss was the same person who had broken into the home, they took custody of him and took him back to the Botetourt County Jail.
It was discovered the suspect vehicle had been stolen from Roanoke City.
Weiss has been charged with breaking and entering, grand larceny, habitual offender, felony eluding and DUI.
He is being held in the Botetourt County Jail with no bond being currently set.
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11:08 a.m. - Sept. 25, 2018
A chase ended in a crash and an arrest along Peters Creek Road in Roanoke County on Tuesday morning.
According to the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office, they received a call for a possible break-in. They spotted an SUV matching the description given and tried to pull it over. The driver refused to pull over and a chase ensued.
The driver ended up crashing off of I-581 at the Peters Creek Road exit. An officer with Game and Inland Fisheries found the crashed SUV, according to the sheriff's office.
The SUV was reported as stolen and one person is under arrest. No one was hurt.
Chuck Lionberger, Roanoke County Public Schools spokesman, said that Northside High School and Northside Middle School were on lockdown due to this incident from 10:15 a.m. to 10:26 a.m.
Conservation Police, Virginia State Police, Roanoke County Police, and the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office all responded.
Check back for updates.