Virginia State Police are searching for a man who hid in a storm drain after fleeing a car crash on a state highway Monday afternoon.
State troopers initially responded to two crashes on Interstate 495 eastbound in Fairfax around 2:35 p.m. Monday.
A third crash occurred right behind the officers who were investigating the first two crashes.
One of the drivers involved in the third accident took off after officers asked for identification. Less than a mile down the interstate, he ran off the road and fell into a ditch.
Undeterred, the suspect took off on foot and sprinted through the eastbound and westbound lanes of the highway. Somehow, he disappeared in a drainage ditch under the interstate before police could apprehend him.
In a scene reminiscent of the Super Mario video game, the suspect re-emerged from a drainage spot on the eastbound side and immediately jumped into a second, smaller storm drain.
Virginia State Police and rescue workers searched the scene to no avail.
They spared no resources, mobilizing the support of a drone unit, a rescue team and more than a dozen police officers to search for the man.
The search continued until around 6:30 p.m., a whopping four hours after initial responses to the initial crash.
Police said the suspect did not have a valid driver's license, but did have a construction industry ID.
