A Virginia State Police trooper is recovering from a wound after a man shot him yesterday as the trooper tried to serve a warrant in Giles County, according to authorities.

Trooper Richard Hughes, shot in the neck, was treated at Giles Memorial Hospital and released.

He was shot in West Virginia, where he had chased the man, identified as Steven Dale Branscome, said state police Sgt. Michael Conroy.

A manhunt involving 100 Virginia and West Virginia officers was under way last night. Helicopters and dogs joined the search for Branscome, who is considered armed and dangerous.

Authorities said Hughes was shot about 4 p.m.

He had gone to the Glen Lyn area of Giles, near the West Virginia line, with another officer to serve a warrant on William Pennington.

As they approached Pennington's house, Conroy said, they saw Branscome in a car in the driveway.

He took off and they pursued him. Branscome is wanted on a variety of criminal charges, Conroy said.

"They've been looking for him for a long time, so he saw them and he may have felt they were coming for him," Conroy said. "It was happenstance."

A seven-minute chase ended when Branscome abandoned his car and bolted into the woods. When Hughes followed, Branscome sprang from behind a tree and shot the officer, Conroy said.

Pennington was arrested and jailed.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.