Accident following high speed chase closes CBBT for two hours early Tuesday

According to the Virginia State Police,  a vehicle with two passengers was involved in a police chase that ended in a wreck that closed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel for almost three hours early Tuesday morning.  The CBBT tweeted that the southbound lanes were closed due to the accident at 1:10 a.m. Tuesday. A witness tweeted that he saw a car, being chased by the State Police and other police agencies enter the Bridge Tunnel in the southbound lane  with no headlights on  at a high rate of speed.   The tweeter also said that he saw EMS units and two medical helicopters respond to the accident.

The roughly 85-mile pursuit started just above the Virginia state line in Pocomoke, Maryland, after Maryland State Police and the Pocomoke Police Department tried to stop the car. Both the driver, Christopher Northcraft, and the passenger, 35-year-old Brandy Bowman, had warrants on file in Maryland.

When their Toyota Camry reached the Virginia line, Virginia State Police deployed spike strips but they weren’t able to stop the car.

Northcraft and Bowman then continued south, and when they got to the bridge-tunnel they went about 90 mph through the toll plaza.

Just before the pair got to the the high rise bridge on the Eastern Shore side,  Northcraft lost control and struck a curb. That sent the vehicle spinning and it flipped over and landed on its roof.

Northcraft broke out of the back window and tried to get Bowman out of the car, before he went over a guardrail and fell about 30 feet below, police say.

In a release, police called Northcraft and Bowman’s injuries “major” but not life-threatening. Both were flown to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Police rode with both suspects because they say Northcraft was combative with rescue personnel. Units from Cape Charles, Cheriton and Northampton EMS responded.

The crash is still under investigation and Northcraft, of Brooklyn Park, Maryland, faces multiple pending charges for the pursuit.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Police dispatchers reported at 1:09 a.m. that all travel lanes were closed due to the crash. The lanes reopened at 3:55 a.m., according to a tweet from CBBT.

.