After crashing a vehicle when trying to avoid a traffic stop, two people swam away from police in Arlington and were later taken into custody Wednesday, Virginia State Police say.
Both were taken to the hospital for treatment after being exposed to the cold water temperatures in Roaches Run, police said in a news release.
It started when an officer tried to pull a vehicle over at 18th Street and S. Crystal Drive in the Crystal City area of Arlington around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Police said the car had the wrong license plates, suggesting it wasn’t properly registered.
But when the state trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver sped away, authorities said. A police pursuit continued north onto Interstate 395.
Police said the driver was riding on the right shoulder and when officers tried to “contain the vehicle,” it hit the trooper’s vehicle.
Both cars spun and collided again.
The driver and passenger of the vehicle then got out of the car and ran away.
About an hour after the attempted traffic stop, officers say they saw two people hiding near Roaches Run.
Before officers could get to them, the pair jumped into the water at Roaches Run and swam toward the George Washington Parkway.
Police said the two were hiding in the water to avoid officers. Arlington County Fire and Rescue deployed its water rescue team and both were taken into custody.
Charges are pending and police are still looking into what happened.
