A police pursuit in West Virginia turned deadly Thursday afternoon when a driver fleeing in a stolen SUV slammed into another vehicle on Interstate 64, killing a woman who had nothing to do with the chase. A vehicle theft call had spiraled into a 120-mph pursuit, and it ended with a local farm owner dead and a community demanding answers.
Deputies say 22-year-old Joseph R. Elswick Jr. ran from them in a stolen 2025 Jeep Cherokee, then lost control after blowing through spike strips. The crash killed 52-year-old Angela Born, a Kanawha County woman known for running a strawberry farm and bed-and-breakfast.
It started small. Around 2:37 p.m., the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office got a report that Elswick had taken his grandmother’s Jeep Cherokee — along with her purse. She warned deputies he might be armed.
They found the stolen SUV about ten minutes later and tried to pull it over. Instead, the driver floored it. Within minutes the Jeep was at extreme speed, weaving across roadways before the suspect aimed for Interstate 64 eastbound near Milton — turning a chase into a triple-digit hazard on a highway full of innocent drivers.
Deputies laid down spike strips near mile marker 34. The Jeep hit them at full speed, shredded its tires, and kept going anyway — another half mile down the interstate on ruined rubber. At those speeds, blown tires mean no real steering and no real brakes. The Jeep became a missile no one could aim.
Elswick lost control in live traffic and plowed into Angela Born’s car as she drove normally down the interstate. The impact was violent enough to set her vehicle on fire. Emergency crews got there fast, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. She had no connection to the pursuit — just another driver in the wrong place when a fleeing car crossed her path.
Born was a fixture in Kanawha County, known for her strawberry farm and bed-and-breakfast and for the business she’d built around the region. She was also a mother of six. Her death turned a pursuit story into a personal tragedy, and neighbors flooded social media with shock and memories.
Elswick survived, and was arrested at the scene. He’s charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and fleeing with reckless indifference, and investigators say more charges could follow. Toxicology results are still pending, and crews are reviewing crash and pursuit evidence.
The aftermath, captured on video and spread online, reignited the old fight over pursuit tactics. Some asked whether deploying spike strips on a busy interstate put more drivers at risk, given how fast a car with shredded tires goes out of control. Others put the blame squarely where it started: a man who stole a vehicle and ran at 120 mph.
The investigation is ongoing as officials pull footage, gather witness accounts, and reconstruct the sequence from pursuit to spike strips to impact. Elswick stays in custody while prosecutors push the homicide case forward.
But none of it undoes the loss. A stolen vehicle turned into the death of a mother, a business owner, and a member of the community — and it leaves one hard question hanging over that stretch of I-64: when a suspect runs at 120 miles per hour, who ends up paying for it?
Source
About the Author
