Woodland Pursuit Following Robbery Nearly Turns Lethal

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VA — A man was shot and sent to a hospital after leading police officers on a harrowing chase, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

The chase came after a local bank was robbed at gunpoint, which wasn’t the first of its kind that one Mr. Piner has committed.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

(A) Chesterfield officer whom county police have opted not to identify shot and wounded Allen E. Piner, 25, after he allegedly robbed a bank at gunpoint and led officers on a pursuit that ended in a field near Pearson Hyundai in the 9500 block of Midlothian Turnpike. The end-point was about 3½ miles from the Argent Credit Union at 1901 Walmart Way, which Piner was accused of robbing.

Once police were alerted of the robbery, responding officers spotted a vehicle driven by a man matching the bank robber’s description and tried to stop him, but the driver refused to yield, police said. At the end of the vehicle pursuit near the car dealership, the suspect ran from his vehicle into the woods.

Officers pursued him, giving him commands to stop, and at one point the suspect displayed a firearm, prompting one officer to fire his service pistol, striking the suspect, police said.

Piner was charged with robbery, possession of a firearm in a robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and carrying a concealed weapon in the Argent Credit Union holdup. Police also charged him with two robbery and two firearm counts in the Sept. 1 holdup of the Citizens Bank & Trust at 12101 Olivers Way. All the charges against Piner were withdrawn Feb. 7 in Chesterfield General District Court to clear the way for his prosecution in federal court. He was indicted Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Richmond on bank robbery and firearm charges related to the Argent Credit Union holdup.

He was willing to do anything to get away, but as soon as he brandished his firearm to officers he made himself a massive threat, which no man or woman with a desire to come home safe is going to miss and react to.

Piner is going away for a long, long time, and although our streets are the safer for it, remember — if individuals would have been armed in the financial institutions and prepared to defend their life and liberty, a whole lot of risk to the well-being of a whole lot of innocents would have been avoided.

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