The month of March ended badly for Slade Allen Woodson. On March 31, Albemarle County police charged Woodson with five additional felony counts connected to the I-64 shootings, the same day he was denied bail in a Waynesboro courtroom. Woodson now faces a total of 17 felony counts, 15 in Albemarle and two in Waynesboro.
 Slade Allen Woodson was charged with five additional felony counts last week, stemming from three other shootings. |
| Previous coverage: Alleged I-64 shooter charged with five more counts [April 1] Asks for court appointed lawyer Suspects arrested in I-64 shootings State Police take second person into custody in connection with I-64 shootings [Updated March 28, 7:10pm] |
A 16-year-old male from Crozet also faces 10 felony counts, stemming only from the I-64 shootings. Police have not charged the 16-year-old with any counts from other shootings that took place in Waynesboro or other parts of western Albemarle.
Woodson appeared in Albemarle General District Court via video on April 1, wearing an orange jumpsuit, sitting at the head of a wooden table in a cinderblock room. A sweatered Albemarle County police officer sat to his left. In a thin voice tinged with a slight drawl, Woodson requested a court-appointed lawyer, claiming that he had only $100 to $200 in money and “an old Dodge and a car” worth less than $1,500 apiece.
Presumably the car to which Woodson referred is his orange 1994 AMC Gremlin, which police found a day after the shootings abandoned on the side of 29N, just south of the Albemarle-Greene county line. Images of his car were captured by security cameras from the Waynesboro credit union that police allege Woodson shot up. Unfortunately for Woodson, the Gremlin is perhaps one of the most recognizable car models in the history of the automobile.
The five charges tacked on March 31 stem from three other shootings that state and Albemarle County police have found in the western part of the county. Woodson is accused of shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting from a vehicle creating the risk of injury or death, according to county police. The shootings took place on Dry Bridge Road, Greenwood State Road and Miller School Road.
State police said in a press release that investigators believe that ballistic evidence from the shootings match the firearm used in the I-64 shootings. Police have already linked casings from the I-64 shootings to a .22 caliber Ruger found at Woodson’s residence at Yonder Hill Farm.
While arresting Woodson on March 28, police shot Edgar W. Dawson, who was airlifted to UVA Hospital. Dawson’s lawyer, John Zwerling, said he expected Dawson to be released from the hospital by April 8. There have been no charges filed against Dawson.
County police have identified M.J. Easton, a six-year Albemarle County Police Department veteran, as the officer who fired the shots. He has been placed on administrative leave with pay, which is standard policy when an officer is involved in a shooting.
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