NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. — Author's note: The video above is on file from October 2021.
A man who led police officers on a high-speed chase through Maryland, the Eastern Shore and onto the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is being charged with the attempted murder of his passenger.
The chase that led to those charges happened on Oct. 19.
Sgt. Michelle Anaya with the Virginia State Police said that day, Christopher Northcraft, 34, was driving a Toyota Camry when he started trying to evade Maryland State Police.
He, and his 35-year-old passenger, Brandy Bowman, had warrants in Maryland.
Officials said Northcraft sped his car down Route 13 through Accomack and Northampton County, sometimes going faster than 120 mph, eventually leading onto the CBBT.
The MSP, VSP and Accomack County Sheriff's Office had each tried to slow or stop the car by that point.
Anaya said Northcraft went through the toll plaza at 90 mph and evaded Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Police.
The car eventually lost control near the North Channel high rise, spinning and flipping onto its roof.
That's when Anaya says Northcraft got out, and tried to get Bowman out, but she was trapped.
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Northcraft tried to run, falling over the guardrail about 30 feet to the ground below.
The VSP said when a helicopter came to take him and Bowman to a hospital, troopers had to go with them, because he wasn't cooperating with rescue workers.
Then, Anaya said after a few days in the hospital, police got a tip that Northcraft was going to try to escape to a car, where someone would be waiting to hide him from police. Troopers found him and stopped the escape, but Northcraft still barricaded himself in his hospital room and tried to break a window to get away.
He was taken to the Eastern Shore Regional Jail.
In December, Anaya said Bowman was still in the hospital for serious crash-related injuries.
Northcraft was moved to the Virginia Beach City Jail, where he's waiting to face these charges:
- Attempted Murder
- Malicious Assault
- Driving Under the Influence
- Abduction
- 2 counts of Possession of a Schedule 1 Narcotic
- 1 count of Possession of a Schedule 4 Narcotic