A 23-year-old Fair Oaks man died early Saturday morning in a motorcycle crash while fleeing from a Virginia State trooper. Killed was Tannie W. Ellison of the 12500 block of Sweet Leaf Terrace in the Fairwoods community.
According to Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Terry Licklider, Ellison was driving a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle on I-66 west, just after midnight, when a state trooper's radar allegedly clocked him traveling 90 miles an hour. Around the Nutley Street exit in Vienna, the trooper started pursuing Ellison, but Licklider said the motorcyclist just kept going.
Ellison took the Route 50 west exit and then the exit ramp for northbound West Ox Road, toward his home. But, said Licklider, by the time the young motorcyclist rounded the curve of that ramp, the trooper estimated he was speeding 100 mph.
Then, say police, Ellison lost control of the Suzuki, struck the guardrail and was propelled off his motorcycle and into the woods below. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Licklider said Tuesday that it's not yet known whether any other factors besides speed contributed to the tragedy. "We'll just have to wait on the autopsy report to find out if there were any alcohol or drugs [in his system]," he said. "There's nothing to indicate that, but we'll have to wait and see."
<tgl> — Bonnie Hobbs