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Inn employee — late for work — sentenced for speeding at 112 mph

by | Jan 22, 2024

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Rapidan resident Jonathan Aaron Perch, 23, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $500 in Rappahannock County Circuit Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to reckless driving while on his way to work at The Inn at Little Washington. 

Perch was pulled over by a Virginia state trooper at 6:38 a.m. on Dec. 27, 2022, after a laser clocked his speed at 112 mph in a 55 mph zone going east on U.S. 211 near Schoolhouse Road. Perch told the officer he was running late to work at the inn and was supposed to be there at 6 o’clock that morning, according to the prosecution.

Circuit Court Judge Matthew Snow accepted a plea agreement between Perch and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John T. Hennessy, after Perch gave up his right to a jury trial. Perch was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 20 of them suspended for one year with the condition that he is “keeping the peace” and maintaining ”good behavior.” His license was suspended for 60 days. 

Perch’s lawyer, Paul D. Fore, asked if the 10 days of his sentence that were not suspended could be served on weekends so that Perch could continue to work at the Inn on weekdays, but the judge denied the request. 

“I understand you were late. . . going 112 mph wasn’t going to do any good for you at that point,” Judge Snow said, adding it was “incredibly dangerous.”

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Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.

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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.