By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 7, 2008

An intoxicated man led police on a two-mile chase this morning after shooting ex-girlfriend in the head at her Waynesboro apartment, police say.

Police responded to Quadrangle Apartments on 4th Street shortly after receiving a 9:25 a.m. call from the victim, who was covered in blood when authorities arrived on the scene, said Sgt. Brian Edwards of the Waynesboro Police Department.

The victim was conscious and told police her assailant - Sam Wesley Earhart, 42, of Waynesboro - was drunk and armed with a gun, and had fled in a tan Plymouth Acclaim, Edwards said.

An officer spotted the car on North Delphine Avenue near the Faber Street intersection, but Earhart refused to pull over, Edwards said. A brief chase ensued, as the suspect - driving erratically at speeds not exceeding 40 mph - continued north on Route 340 before turning onto Beagle Gap Run, a quiet residential street in a subdivision just outside the city limits.

Earhart was eventually corned on Whippoorwill Way, a short cul-de-sac, but refused to comply with orders to show his hands and emerge from the car. Because the suspect was armed, police used a Taser to apprehend him, Edwards said.

A loaded, recently fired .38-caliber handgun was found on the car’s passenger seat.  Earhart told police he had fired one shot in the victim’s living room, Edwards said.

The victim initially told police she had been struck in the back of the head with an unknown object, but doctors at Augusta Medical Center doctors determined the wound was caused by a gunshot, according to a media release. She was later transported the University of Virginia Medical Center in stable condition for further care and evaluation.

Earhart is facing initial felony charges of eluding police, DUI, driving after having been declared a habitual offender, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and a misdemeanor charge of refusing to take a breath test. He is also facing a felony charge of assaulting police for spitting on an officer, according to the media release.

Earhart has been convicted of various felonies in Waynesboro including possession of methamphetamine, distributing cocaine, burglary, fraud and assault.