Criminal investigation underway after man's COVID-19 mobile testing lab stolen, wrecked and caught on fire

POTOMAC FALLS, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Michael Daugherty had hoped to turn his RV into a mobile COVID-19 testing lab. Instead, it’s now part of a criminal investigation.

“I think I’m still kind of in shock,” Daugherty said Thursday.

Daugherty is the owner of a new business called AnyLabTestNow. Last week he’d driven the RV up from Georgia and parked it behind his stationary lab location in Potomac Falls. But he never could’ve imagined what was about to happen next.

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“I fly back to Atlanta on Friday, I get a call on Monday morning about careless driving and my burned up RV at a shopping center down the road,” he explained, adding that someone had called 911 early that morning reporting an out of control RV, with no lights, lots of damage, and tons of smoke.

Daugherty believes someone had broken into the vehicle through a window, hotwired it, and taken off without releasing the parking brake. That led to a fire in the back of the RV, where the brakes and engine are located.

“Fire in the hole,” Daugherty said. “And he is hopping around, and he probably didn’t know what hit him.”

Daugherty is taking the damage in stride. He has insurance and said he plans to start work on a new mobile testing lab immediately. But he’s still focused on finding out who’s responsible for the damage and hopes the public can help.

“I’m not so upset about the material loss, I’m concerned about the opportunity loss and who would do something like this when this is such a time we all have to come together and not pull this stuff,” he explained.

If anyone has information about the stolen RV, they’re asked to please call the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.