Police: Man drove 118 mph in 50 mph zone

RIPTON - An East Middlebury man was driving at more than twice the posted 50-mph speed limit before he led Vermont State Police on a pursuit through several Addison County towns early Sunday morning, police said.

At the end of the pursuit, Christopher Shores, 21, was taken into custody and jailed at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington for lack of $10,000, police said. Shores is scheduled to appear in court in Middlebury on Monday.

Police said Shores was arrested on suspicion of driving at an excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, attempting to elude a police officer, grossly careless and negligent driving and reckless endangerment.

Vermont State Police were traveling south on Vermont 116 in Bristol around 1:02 a.m. Sunday morning when a vehicle, later determined to be driven by Shores, drove by in the opposite direction at a speed of 118 mph in the posted 50-mph zone, Trooper Joseph Szarejko said in an email Sunday.

The vehicle failed to stop for police, and police said they pursued the car through Bristol, Lincoln and Ripton.

Shores stopped on North Branch Road in Ripton after Vermont State Police and Middlebury police surrounded his car, Szarejko said. Shores provided a preliminary roadside breath sample to troopers, which measured his blood alcohol content to be 0.168 percent, police said.

Shores was brought to and processed at the Vermont State Police barracks in New Haven around 1:55 a.m., Szarejko said. He was later jailed in South Burlington pending his Monday court appearance. 

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.