1 dead, 2 hospitalized following hit-and-run of Maryland police vehicle in Jessup, police say
By Tara Lynch
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HOWARD COUNTY, Maryland (WJZ) — Police are investigating a fatal crash following the hit-and-run of a police vehicle early Sunday morning by the border of Howard and Anne Arundel counties.
A 2018 Infiniti Q60 backed into a parked, occupied Howard County police car around 2:15 a.m. at a Royal Farms in the 7100 block of Montevideo Road in Jessup, the police department said.
The driver of the Infiniti fled the scene, prompting the officer to pursue the vehicle, according to police. The Infiniti then crashed into a retaining wall about a mile away.
One man was pronounced dead at the scene, and two other people were taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said. According to the dispatch call, all three people were ejected from the car, and the driver was conscious. The officer involved was not injured.
Montevideo Road was closed at the Howard-Anne Arundel County line following the crash but has since reopened.
“They drive really crazy out here” Neighbors said the Infiniti narrowly missed two utility poles, and the car appears to have taken out a traffic sign and two mailboxes. They said they weren’t surprised that something like this happened in the community, adding drivers need to slow down on the roads.
“They drive really crazy out here. I’ve been living in Howard County for the past 15 years, and there are no safe drivers,” Howard County resident Jasmine Ortiz said. “Even out in Annapolis, I even work out there. They don’t even put on their signal. They’re zigzagging, it’s ridiculous.”
“That’s a tragedy for whoever got killed. But, you know, I mean, that’s how people drive nowadays around here,” said Catonsville resident Ed Fisher.
So far this year, 281 people have been killed in car crashes in Maryland, and more than half of them have died since May. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day is considered the deadliest time of year on the road, because of an increase in impaired, distracted and reckless driving.
“People feel very empowered when they’re behind the wheel,” Melissa Green Parker, of North Laurel, said. “The speeding, the people who are just driving illegally on the curbs, on the highway. Just so they can get around the so-called slow people.”
The Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division (IID) is now leading the investigation. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the IID at (410) 576-7070 or by email at IID@oag.maryland.gov.
Investigators say the officer involved was equipped with a body-worn camera, and the video will be released publicly in accordance with state protocols.
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