HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — A stolen vehicle has been recovered and returned to the
owner after a crash in Harrisonburg Wednesday.

Harrisonburg Police say they received an alert just before noon from a Flock Automated License Plate Reader that a stolen vehicle was traveling through the area. HPD patrol officers immediately responded to the area and began looking for the vehicle which had been stolen from The Mill apartment complex over the weekend.

Officers located the vehicle, a black Acura, traveling northbound on N. Main St. and observed
the vehicle disregarding multiple traffic laws. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, it
continued north at a high rate of speed and eluded officers before turning onto Warsaw Ave.

When officers arrived on scene, they found that the vehicle had struck a curb and a tree behind
the Warsaw Avenue Parking Garage on the campus of James Madison University. The driver
had fled the area before officers arrived, and one female passenger was detained. The male driver
fled on foot and, after a brief search, was located near the railroad tracks on Maryland Avenue
and taken into custody.

Police say 26-year-old Leonardo Aleman of Harrisonburg is being charged with the following:

  • Eluding a Law Enforcement Officer (felony)
  • Hit and Run
  • Property Damage (felony)
  • Motor Vehicle Theft (felony)
  • Driving without a License

Aleman also had an outstanding capias out of Harrisonburg for a felony probation violation.

The James Madison University Police Department, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, and the Broadway Police Department K9 Unit assisted with the case.