NEWS BRIEFS
Retired major seeks Republican nod for sheriff
Garland G. Stafford, a former major with the Chesterfield Sheriff's Office, is expected to formally announce his intention this week to seek the Republican nomination for sheriff. Stafford's law enforcement career dates back to 1982 when he worked at the Richmond Sheriff's Office and later with the Virginia Department of Corrections. He joined the Chesterfield Sheriff's Office in 1990 and retired last year.

Two children die in fire

Two Ettrick children were killed on Mar. 2 when their 3601 Totty St. home caught fire. The state Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as 13-year-old Judgedell Cheatham and 11-year-old Emmanuel Cheatham.

Investigators believe the blaze started when someone dropped a lit cigarette on a bed.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to contain the fire. The home sustained heavy damage. Two other persons were taken to VCU Medical Center for serious injuries.

House fire claims three

A domestic dispute turned deadly earlier this month when 43-year-old Thanh Tan Nguyen set fire to a Trickling Creek Road home in the early morning hours of Mar. 3.

Nguyen died at the scene. The fire also claimed the lives of nine-year-old Anthony Nguyen and 60-year-old Loan Tran. Nguyen's ex-wife Chau Nguyen escaped the blaze without injury. A daughter was treated at VCU Medical Center for critical injuries.

Driver crashes while eluding police

A 21-year-old Midlothian man is charged with reckless driving after he pulled into the path of a 2000 Plymouth while trying to elude police. According to police, Michael Sterling Andersen, of the 10100 block of Red Bridge Road, was traveling on Woodlake Village Parkway in a 1995 Pontiac when he disregarded a red light and pulled onto Hull Street Road and into the path of the Plymouth.

Both drivers were treated for injuries that were not life threatening.

Additional charges are pending against Andersen.

Driver injured in fiery crash

County police are investigating a singlevehicle crash in the 4700 block of Centralia Road on Mar. 2 that hospitalized the driver after the car caught fire.

According to police, the driver was traveling west on Centralia Road in a 2003 Chevrolet Impala when the vehicle ran off the road and struck a fence and several trees.

The Impala caught fire while the driver was still inside. A number of people stopped to assist the driver until police and emergency personnel arrived. The driver was removed from the car and transported by helicopter to VCU Medical Center.