The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Alan Dale Vernon |
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
By K.A. WAGONER - Staff Writer
A Bassett man killed during a high speed police chase in Henry County early Sunday morning was scheduled for trial in August in connection with a break-in at Doyle Enterprises in May 2011.
Alan Dale Vernon, 55, was killed when his 1981 Chevrolet Camaro overturned and struck a tree on Virginia 57, according to Sgt. Rob Carpentieri with the Virginia State Police.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, a trooper observed the Camaro drive through a stop sign on Route 609 at Field Avenue, Carpentieri said. The trooper pursued the Camaro onto Virginia 57, where the car ran off the right side of the road, overturned and struck a tree.
Vernon, whose driver's license had been suspended, was not wearing a seat belt, Carpentieri said.
The police chase lasted only a few minutes with speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour, Carpentieri said.
The Doyle Enterprises case garnered a lot of public attention, due to the evidence used to identify Vernon as a suspect.
A half-eaten rotisserie chicken left at the crime scene led to indictments against Vernon for one count of breaking and entering and one count of grand larceny in the theft of $10,000 worth of equipment from the former sewing factory on Truevine Road in Glade Hill.
After processing the crime scene, Investigator Gary Shively with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office traced the packaging of the rotisserie chicken to the Food Lion at Bassett Forks, where he was able to identify three men on surveillance video at the time of the purchase, Shively said.
A cigarette butt collected at the crime scene provided DNA evidence that matched a sample collected from Vernon, according to the police report.
Vernon's trial was set for Aug. 16 in Franklin County Circuit Court. |
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