I-95 Carjacker Is At Large: Stafford Police

STAFFORD COUNTY, VA — Stafford County sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement personnel are searching for a Woodbridge man in connection with a shooting, carjacking and police chase Monday on Interstate 95, according to police and media reports. The sheriff's office identified Robert H. Leegrand III as a person of interest in the carjacking and shooting, and said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Leegrand is wanted on other charges in Manassas and Prince William and Fairfax counties, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. In responding to the carjacking, authorities put Stafford High School on partial lockdown at around 12:55 p.m. Monday. The lockdown was lifted shortly thereafter.

The incident began at about 11:30 a.m. Monday when deputies responded to a call of shots fired on Barrows Court, off U.S. 17 near I-95.

Witnesses said someone in a dark-colored Audi began shooting at people in a dark-colored Dodge Dart. But when deputies arrived, the individuals involved were no longer at the scene.

One nearby residence was hit by gunfire, but no one was injured, the sheriff's office said. Deputies issued a lookout for the Audi and began checking the area.

About an hour later, at 12:45 p.m., they spotted the Audi in the area of Pine View Court, several miles north. The shooting suspect drove down a hill at the end of the cul-de-sac, hit an I-95 guardrail and jumped out of the vehicle car

The driver then hijacked a vehicle on I-95 at gunpoint and headed south, the Free Lance-Star reported. The carjacking victims were left on the side of the highway but were not injured.

Soon after, a Fredericksburg police officer found the vehicle abandoned in the Gateway Village Shopping Center on Plank Road (Route 3), the newspaper reported. Officers searched in stores and the surrounding area for the suspect, but he had fled the area before they arrived.

Leegrand is scheduled to stand trial on July 31 in Prince William Circuit Court on charges on armed burglary and brandishing a firearm, the Free Lance-Star reported.

He's also wanted in Fairfax County for grand larceny and Manassas for resisting arrest. Anyone with information on Leegrand is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (540) 658-4400.

Image: Robert H. Leegrand III (SCSO)