FRANKLIN, Va. (WAVY) – A man is wanted for fleeing the scene of a shooting incident in the Main Street area of Franklin.
On Saturday morning, March 29, Franklin police responded to a report of shots fired in the Main Street area just before 1 a.m. Officers obtained a description of a vehicle and suspect and proceeded to search the area.
Officers located the vehicle and suspect, identified as Jerry Williams. While being questioned by police, Williams fled the scene in his vehicle, striking another vehicle on Edwards Street.
“Officers attempted to catch up to the Dodge Charger, which crashed on Edward Street, crashed into an unoccupied vehicle, which then caught on fire,” Detective Corporal Peter Trimble said.
After the crash, Williams took off on foot, police said.
Trimble explained that officers believed Williams had fled to his own home, which was just a few houses down from where the vehicle crashed.
However, after getting a search warrant to search the premises, Williams was nowhere to be found inside.
“When I saw the crash, I’m assuming he didn’t make it, but evidently he did,” Franklin resident Regina Myrick said.
Myrick revealed to 10 On Your Side that the Dodge Charger that Williams was allegedly driving struck her husband’s truck and that both vehicles ended up in her yard in a fiery crash.
“The driver of the black car hit the truck and everything,” Myrick said. “The truck and the car went flying in the back of the yard, and I guess by him hitting the back of the truck, the gas tank just exploded.”
She added that her husband’s truck was actually parked on the street, but it ended up in their yard because of the impact of the collision. The charred remains of the truck are now all that’s left behind from the ordeal.
“My husband’s had this truck for, like, over nine years, 10 years,” Myrick said.
Williams is wanted on charges of attempted malicious bodily injury to a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony and eluding police. Williams is to be considered armed and dangerous.
Police describe Williams as approximately 5-feet, 5-inches in height and 140 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.
If anyone has information about this incident or other criminal activity within the City of Franklin, they are asked to call Franklin Police at 757-562-8575, Franklin Crime Solvers at 757-516-7100, or submit a tip at p3tips.com. Information that leads to an arrest can earn the caller a cash reward while remaining anonymous.