A former deputy with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office died over the weekend after a motorcycle crash in Virginia.
Theodore Randolph “Randy” Dorsey, 43, of Charles Town, W.Va., died Sunday when a sports car crossed the center line and struck a group of motorcyclists, including Dorsey, on U.S. 211 near Sperryville, according to Virginia State Police Trooper Paul Domingoes. Dorsey was pronounced dead a short time later at Fauquier Hospital, Domingoes said.
Seven other people were hospitalized after the crash, Domingoes said, including Dorsey’s wife, Joann Dorsey. She remained hospitalized Thursday, according to Sophia Adams, an assistant for Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and a close friend of the Dorseys.
The driver of the car that struck the motorcycles, James Warren Cox, 63, of Alexandria, Va., has not been charged, Domingoes said, but the crash remains under investigation.
Dorsey’s career with the sheriff’s office, which saw him attain the rank of sergeant, ended in 2008 when he was convicted of setting his girlfriend’s SUV on fire as part of an insurance fraud scheme to buy another vehicle. He was given a three-year suspended sentence and a year of home detention.
Adams said many in the community may remember Dorsey for the well-publicized arson case, but he will be remembered at the sheriff’s office for the smiles and laughter he shared with everyone he knew.
“He made some bad choices, but that’s not how we’ll remember him here,” Adams said. “He was a very special person. The whole department is feeling the loss. It’s been a very somber week around here.”
Adams recounted a story about a sheriff’s office recruit who was taking the running test with an injured knee.
She said Dorsey helped get her through the test.
“He was running beside her the whole way, encouraging her,” Adams said. “He just made friends with anybody he met.”
Funeral services will begin at 1 p.m. Monday at the Ranson Civic Center at 431 W. Second Ave., Ranson, W.Va. Bishop Sterling Porter III will officiate.
The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, 256 Halltown Road, Charles Town.
