Drivers reported to Virginia State Police on Wednesday afternoon that a man struck their cars and punched them in one carjacking and an attempted carjacking.
The alleged events happened on the southbound side of Interstate 495 in Fairfax County, according to police.
A woman was driving her 2021 Toyota Rav4 when she said her vehicle was struck by a Toyota Camry. Both vehicles pulled over onto the shoulder, according to police.
The man who drove the Toyota Camry then allegedly walked up to the woman, punched her in the face, dragged her out of the car and took off in her SUV, police said.
The woman and her dog remained on the shoulder of the highway as she attempted to flag down drivers.
Virginia State Police received calls from drivers on the highway at about 2:20 p.m.
While the state troopers were conducting an investigation on the shoulder, a man pulled over in his vehicle and said that a driver struck his vehicle, police said.
Both vehicles pulled over. The other driver, who fits the same description the woman gave, allegedly punched him and attempted to take his vehicle, police said.
Both the man and the woman refused medical treatment at the scene.
Virginia State Police reported the woman’s vehicle as stolen, and shortly afterward, Maryland authorities told the Virginia State Police that they had located the same Toyota Rav4.
The driver, Matthew L. Warsham Dabney, 26, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, was taken into custody in Maryland on a Virginia charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Additional charges are pending as the investigation continues.
