NORFOLK, Va. — A jury convicted a man of burglarizing a small car dealership in Norfolk, the Office of Commonwealth's Attorney said.
On Tuesday, Quran Chatman, 28, was convicted of burglary, possession of burglarious tools, grand larceny of an automobile, misdemeanor destruction of property and felony eluding police.
On March 13, 2022, officials say Chatman "pried open" a garage door at a car dealership on East Little Creek Road. The security system sent an alert and the owner watched the surveillance video of Chatman while he broke in.
Officials said Chatman stole the keys to a yellow Camaro convertible, got in the car and drove it through a chain-linked fence.
The owner then called the Norfolk Police Department.
Officers found Chatman driving the car and attempted to pull him over. When the officer approached Chatman, they said he sped off.
Officers pursued Chatman, who drove 75 mph down Sewell's Point Road and back onto East Little Creek Road until police determined it was too dangerous to continue following Chatman and called off the pursuit, officials said.
After calling off the pursuit, officials said Chatman fishtailed the car and crashed into parked cars at a different car dealership. The crash caused the convertible to flip onto its roof and Chatman ejected from the car, knocking him unconscious.
Officers detained him at the scene. No one else was injured.
“Mr. Chatman victimized a small business owner and then drove incredibly dangerously,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Chatman is lucky to be alive, and the community is lucky that he did not hurt or kill anyone else. I am grateful to the Norfolk Police for their quick work on this case.”
Chatman is slated to be sentenced on April 26.
