The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigation into a stolen vehicle led to the arrest of two suspects, Tristan W. Difilippo, 18, and Dajuan K. Pittman, 20, who were involved in an armed robbery in New Jersey and were considered armed and dangerous.
On Saturday, Sept. 4, at 8:13 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a request for assistance from the Virginia State Police (VSP) in regards to the pursuit of a stolen vehicle that began on I-81 with the additional information about the armed robbery and their status as armed and dangerous.
Due to the large number of police vehicles already involved with the pursuit, deputies from the Montgomery County SO followed from a safe distance to provide assistance as needed.
At 8:32 p.m. the subjects abandoned the vehicle they were driving in the area of Benoit Drive (the Jefferson Forest area of Montgomery County) and fled on foot. One of the individuals was taken into custody by the Virginia State Police at that time. At the request of the state police, a perimeter was set up to contain the other individuals to the area. VSP also requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office UAV (drone) Team. The perimeter was set up and maintained by members of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the VSP, the Blacksburg PD, and the Virginia Tech PD. An area search was conducted throughout the night.
At approximately 1:15 a.m. on 09/05/2021, the Virginia State Police closed the command
center/perimeter and left the scene. Deputies from the sheriff’s office maintained a presence in the area throughout the remainder of the morning.
At 5:24 a.m. Montgomery SO deputies with the assistance of the Blacksburg PD located a second individual who was taken into custody. The search continued until 8:18 Monday morning.
Difilippo and Pittman are both being held on a fugitive warrant with no bond.