Driver who reportedly hit trooper at Petersburg checkpoint is arrested

Virginia State Police say they have arrested the driver who hit a state trooper while fleeing a traffic checkpoint on the Interstate 85 on-ramp over the weekend.

Robert Raines, 38, who identified himself as a resident of Petersburg and Suffolk, was charged with evading law enforcement, two counts of hit-and-run, obstruction of justice and driving with a revoked license, VSP said in a Nov. 30 statement. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 1 in Petersburg General District Court.

The incident occurred Nov. 28 at the Squirrel Flat Road ramp to northbound I-85 in Petersburg. Troopers had set up a traffic checkpoint on the ramp and Raines reportedly approached in a white Ford with expired temporary license plates.

When a trooper told him he had to go through the checkpoint, Raines reportedly backed away, striking both the guardrail and the trooper, before fleeing the scene and returning to Squirrel Flat Road.

The soldier was not injured. There was no pursuit due to the way officers were positioned on the ramp.

This article was first published in The Progress-Index: State Police arrest Petersburg man who struck police at I-85 checkpoint