Tuesday morning in Fairfax County General District Court, Virginia State Trooper Joshua Korson described how, on Nov. 22, he tried to pull over a speeding motorist in a 1993 Dodge.
Unfortunately, the driver didn't stop until he crashed his car broadside into a vehicle being driven by a 40-year-old Centreville man, Soo Chang Yang of the Belle Pond Farm community.
Korson said Quentin J. Jones, 24, of 19013 Queen Drive in Triangle was the speeding motorist that he ultimately arrested that night in connection with the tragedy. And when he was done testifying, Judge Stewart Davis certified three charges against Jones — including involuntary manslaughter — to the grand jury.
Initially, police also charged him with carjacking and abduction/kidnapping because, when police stopped Jones that night, his passenger allegedly told authorities he'd been kidnapped and the car was stolen. But because the prosecution has been unable to find that person since then, on Tuesday these two charges were dropped.
Jones' charges of DUI and driving on a suspended license were also dropped, but his most serious charges are moving forward. Korson testified that, Nov. 22 around 9 p.m., he clocked Jones on stationary radar at 82 mph at the intersection of I-66 east and the Fairfax County Parkway.
Korson then gave pursuit, with his cruiser's blue lights and siren activated. "[Jones] crossed all lanes of traffic and got off at Route 50 east," he said. "He went through stopped traffic at Waples Mill [Road] and went through a red light. I notified [local] police that I was in pursuit of a vehicle, and he went through a red light at Jermantown [Road]."
At the intersection of Routes 50 and 29 north, Korson said Jones passed stopped traffic on the shoulder of the road, going through a red light at Route 29, "doing speeds in excess of 90 mph." At Fairfax Circle, he said, Jones "struck a minivan driven by a woman," but didn't stop.
At Allen Street in Falls Church, said Korson, the Dodge ran a red light and "T-boned a black Lexus coming through the intersection" at Route 50 east and the pursuit ended. Driving the 2000 Lexus was Yang, who was later pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Korson said Jones was in the driver's seat of the Dodge and had driven through five red lights, that night, during an approximately 10-mile pursuit that lasted about 10 minutes. Once he stopped, said the trooper, "I pulled him out of the car and arrested him. He had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage and bloodshot eyes."
Korson identified Jones in court as the Dodge's driver, and then Judge Davis found probable cause to certify three charges against him to the next grand jury for possible indictment. These charges are involuntary manslaughter, felony hit-and-run, and felony reckless driving with intent to elude. Jones is currently being held in jail without bond.