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Curtis Armstead Jr.

Age : 24

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 10/24/2021

Location : I-95 Exit 160 ramp to Route 123

City : Woodbridge

County : Prince William

State : Virginia

Agency : Virginia State Police

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
At approximately 3:45 a.m., a Virginia State Police trooper clocked Curtis Armstead Jr.'s Dodge Charger traveling 72 mph in a posted 55-mph zone on westbound Interstate 495 near Eisenhower Avenue. The trooper activated emergency lights and siren to conduct a traffic stop. Armstead continued driving away and police initiated a pursuit. The initiating offense was therefore speeding 17 mph above the limit.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 10/24/2021, Virginia State Police pursued 24-year-old Curtis Armstead Jr. from the Capital Beltway onto southbound Interstate 95 toward Prince William County. During the pursuit, a police dispatcher radioed that the Charger's license plates matched those of a stolen vehicle. Virginia State Police later acknowledged that information was wrong: the vehicle was not stolen. Police said the erroneous stolen-vehicle information did not influence the trooper's decision to pursue because the chase had already begun over the speeding violation.
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The pursuit continued south on I-95 until Armstead took Exit 160 toward Route 123 at what police described as excessive speed. He lost control on the exit ramp, ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a Jersey wall. The Charger rode up the concrete wall and struck the underside of the I-95 Express Lanes overpass before catching fire.
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Troopers reached the wreck and pulled Armstead and his passenger, 23-year-old Miquel De'quan Jenkins, from the Charger immediately before it became engulfed in flames. Both men suffered fatal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.
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Armstead was a Fredericksburg resident and the son of Michelle Armstead and Curtis Armstead Sr. He was part of a large family that included two brothers, Naheem Fox and Keaun Carter, and a nephew, Kyree Curry. His family held a celebration of his life at Arm of the Lord Ministries before burying him at Sunset Memorial Gardens.
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The families publicly questioned why a traffic violation escalated into a pursuit that killed both young men. Armstead's mother specifically challenged the decision to chase her son over driving 72 mph in a 55-mph zone, saying the pursuit was the reason she no longer had her son and Jenkins' mother no longer had hers.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
2 Fatalities.
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EYEWITNESS OR FAMILY STATEMENTS:
Armstead's mother questioned why Virginia State Police pursued a driver to a fatal outcome over speeding 17 mph above the posted limit. The family also learned that during the pursuit police incorrectly broadcast that the Charger's tags matched a stolen vehicle, although State Police subsequently acknowledged the information was erroneous.
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DISPOSITION:
Virginia State Police investigated the pursuit and double-fatal crash. No trooper was criminally charged for the trooper's role in initiating and continuing the pursuit from I-495 onto I-95.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Virginia State Police did not publicly identify the trooper who initiated and participated in the fatal pursuit.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/police-pursuit-crash-kills-two-on-capital-beltway/2847200/
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/mother-questions-police-for-i-95-chase-ending-in-deadly-crash/2850290/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/crash-police-deaths-chase-beltway/2021/10/24/c975f048-34d8-11ec-9bc4-86107e7b0ab1_story.html
https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/curtis-armstead-jr-miquel-jenkins-dead-interstate-95-crash-police-chase
https://patch.com/virginia/woodbridge-va/2-killed-virginia-police-chase
https://www.wsls.com/news/virginia/2021/10/24/2-die-in-crash-after-police-chase-in-prince-william-county/
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fredericksburg-va/curtis-armstead-10418577