NORFOLK, Va. — The man who led police on a multi-city car chase in January admitted to being a serial larcenist who sold stolen goods to buy drugs and gas, according to court documents.
Police were investigating a serial larcenist in the 1200 Block of North Main Street around 7:56 a.m on Jan. 28. The suspect was determined to be Joseph R. Alvey, who was spotted shoplifting multiple high valued power tools, according to court documents.
Alvey fled in his car once officers arrived to the area, according to Suffolk police.
While attempting to flee police, Alvey then drove near an unrelated car crash in Portsmouth. Suffolk police say Alvey drove into oncoming traffic and nearly hit an officer during his attempt to leave the crash scene. The officer fired a single shot at Alvey, who received a non-life-threatening injury as a result, according to Suffolk police.
Watch: Raw video shows arrest of suspect on Waterside Drive
Alvey continued to drive off after being shot. He led officers on a multi-jurisdictional pursuit, and was eventually arrested in Norfolk, according to court documents.
Alvey was transported to a local hospital, where he admitted to a detective that he was going to resell the stolen merchandise on Facebook Marketplace, and that he uses the money from the sales to buy drugs and keep gas in his car.
Officials obtained a search warrant for Alvey's car, where they found stolen goods and a cell phone, according to court documents.
Watch previous coverage: Suspect shot by police during multi-city car chase gets arrested in Norfolk
The officer who shot Alvey was placed on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate this incident.
