BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — The Martin County Sheriff’s Office impounded a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) vehicle May 7 after a disaster recovery worker fled from police during a traffic stop.

Chief Deputy Chris Kidd said he clocked the vehicle at 92 mph in a 55 mph zone along KY-645 near the Milo dip.

“I hit my lights as soon as I clocked him,” Kidd said. “He was about 500 feet away. He looked over at me and made eye contact—I noticed because he didn’t have tinted windows. As I was turning around, I saw him accelerate past 92 mph and take off.”

Kidd drove several miles toward the state highway garage but saw no sign of the vehicle on the straightaway toward Sav-A-Lot.

“He wasn’t in front of me whatsoever,” said Kidd. “I figured he probably ducked off onto a side road, trying to hide.”

Kidd turned back, parked on a side road near the sawmill and waited.

“Sure enough, in just a few minutes, he came by,” he said.

This time, the vehicle stopped when Kidd initiated a traffic stop at Fitch Branch.

“When I got up there, he said he was late for work,” Kidd said. “He was wearing a FEMA badge and said he worked at the disaster recovery center here.”

The driver, Reynaldo Eliu Quinonez Diaz, 28, of Cidra, Pennsylvania, told Kidd he panicked and tried to hide on the hill at Eden Elementary.

“He said he was just nervous because he’d had a bad experience with law enforcement in the past,” Kidd explained. “I advised him that was not the proper way to handle the situation—and that he is now facing felony fleeing and evading charges.”

Diaz was charged with first-degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle, speeding 26 mph or more over the limit, and careless driving.

Police impounded the vehicle.

Later the sheriff’s office received a call from an area FEMA director.

“They advised us the vehicle was a FEMA rental and asked if they could retrieve it,” Kidd said. “We agreed.”