NORFOLK, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia Beach man has been sentenced after multiple armed carjackings and two high-speed police chases in stolen vehicles.
The Office of the Attorney General said 30-year-old Bryant Wilkerson was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in prison for multiple carjackings and for using a firearm while committing the carjackings.
This comes about a year and six months after Wilkerson’s escape in April 2022 from Eastern State Hospital — a psychiatric hospital in James City County — after which he was arrested within a week.
On Nov. 3, 2020, in Chesapeake, Wilkerson approached a person who was sitting in the driver seat of their car with their door open, according to court documents. Wilkerson told the driver of the vehicle to get out of the car or he would shoot the driver.
Before the driver could close the door, Wilkerson stood between the door and the driver’s seat and again told the driver that he would shoot the driver if he did not get out of the car, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
Court documents said that Wilkerson then pulled out a gun and hit the driver in the face with it. The driver then got out of the car and Wilkerson drove it away. The car was found abandoned the next day.
On Nov. 9, 2020, Wilkerson approached another person who was sitting in the driver seat of their car in Currituck, North Carolina. Wilkerson then opened the passenger side door, pointed a gun at the driver and ordered the driver to get out of the car.
The driver left the car, but Wilkerson was unable to start the car because the driver still had the key fob. The Office of the Attorney General said that Wilkerson then got into another vehicle that no one was in with the engine running and fled the scene.
Deputies from the Currituck County Police Department reportedly tried to pull Wilkerson over, but he led them on a high-speed chase in which Wilkerson drove into oncoming traffic while speeding and ran other vehicles off the road.
Wilkerson later left that vehicle and, after a chase on foot, jumped on the hood of another vehicle, pointed a gun at the driver and told the driver to get out, according to the Office of the Attorney General. Wilkerson then fired a shot into the dash and pointed the gun at the driver again.
The driver got out of the vehicle and Wilkerson drove it away. The Office of the Attorney General said Wilkerson then led law enforcement officers on another high-speed chase, this time driving faster than 100 miles per hour in the wrong direction on an expressway.
Law enforcement officers were able to flatten Wilkerson’s tires using spike strips, which forced him to finally stop.
Wilkerson then fled on foot again, robbed another person and ultimately broke into another locked vehicle. Officers found Wilkerson hiding in the vehicle with a gun and took him into custody.
