- Police say a stolen Jeep reached 120 mph during pursuit.
- Spike strips were hit before the suspect crashed on I-64.
- An innocent 52-year-old woman died at the scene.
A police pursuit in West Virginia ended in tragedy this week after a fleeing suspect reportedly slammed into an innocent driver, killing a 52-year-old woman on Interstate 64. Authorities say the suspect, Joseph R. Elswick Jr., 22, fled deputies in a stolen vehicle before colliding with a car driven by Angela Born, a Kanawha County resident and well-known member of the region’s farming community.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began around 2:37 p.m. Thursday when Elswick allegedly stole his grandmother’s 2025 Jeep Cherokee along with her purse. She also reportedly warned deputies he might have been armed.
Roughly ten minutes later, deputies located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. Instead of pulling over, investigators claim Elswick fled, with the pursuit said to have reached speeds of up to 120 mph.
Read: Arkansas Police Chasing Corvette At 135 MPH Crashes Into Innocent Bystanders
According to WOWK TV, the chase moved through multiple roads before the suspect entered Interstate 64 eastbound near Milton. Police say officers deployed spike strips near mile marker 34 on the interstate in an attempt to stop the fleeing Jeep. According to the criminal complaint, Elswick drove through the spikes and attempted to continue fleeing despite the damaged tires.
That’s key because tires are critical to safe control of a vehicle. Steering and braking performance can degrade rapidly when a tire fails, particularly at highway speeds. Authorities say roughly half a mile after the spike strip, Elswick lost control and collided with Born’s vehicle in traffic. Her vehicle caught fire following the crash, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sheriff Bobby Eggleton described Born as a “salt of the earth lady” and a mother of six who operated a strawberry farm and bed-and-breakfast property in the region. He says that Elswick “alone is at fault.” The young man is now facing several charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide and fleeing with reckless indifference, with additional charges possible pending toxicology results.
Public Reaction
Video Reddit
While Eggleton might believe that Elswick is the only one with any share of the blame, the public disagrees. In a post on Reddit showing the fatal crash, commenters didn’t mince words. “Not smart. Let him get away from traffic, then try to stop him. How sad someone had to die because of their decision,” said one. “Why in the f___ are they spike stripping the car in the middle of traffic??? This unnecessary death wasn’t an accident but an inevitability,” said another.
Two more reflected the view that police simply placed a higher value on catching Elsworth than they did on the human lives around him. “At least they got the car thief, just another tax paying citizen killed. These idiots need to realize they are public servants, not public assailants,” said one. “Stolen vehicle is totally worth the life of an innocent bystander,” someone else chimed in.
Notably, a person from the community who posted the video and was on scene says that locals are questioning the police tactic as well. Responding to a question about how wise it was to use a spike strip in moderate traffic, they say, “People in my town are debating whether it was smart or not.”
Commenters on Facebook voiced similar concerns, with several questioning police pursuit policies. . “Someone educate me. Don’t police have the ability to decide against pursuing someone over certain speeds for safety?” one person asked.
One citizen was especially angered by the decision, writing, “You popped the tires on a car doing well over 100 mph in the middle of interstate traffic! WTAF did you think was gonna happen?! You carry the bulk of the blame for the death of a wonderful wife and mother due to your moronic actions! I pray you get sued into oblivion, and that everyone involved with the decision to toss out that spike strip is fired and haunted by their actions for the rest of their lives.”
It used to be said that while you could outrun police, you couldn’t outrun the radio. Maybe that’s a strategy more police departments should put into practice. It might have saved a life here and managed to catch the suspect at the same time.