Maryland Law Blog

A 44-year-old long haul truck driver from Sacramento is being held for trial on two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of a mother and daughter from Maryland. As reported by Post-Gazette.com, the fatal accident occurred the morning of November 24 in South Strabane, PA, east of the junction with southbound I-79. The truck driver was behind the wheel of a 77,000-pound tractor-trailer traveling west when he reportedly crossed the center grass median and collided with the vehicle of a 57-year-old mother and her 21-year-old daughter, both from Hughesville, MD.

The truck driver told police he may have fallen asleep at the wheel prior to the Washington County accident, but also told investigators he may have been awake at the time of the crash, indicating that he may have known what happened. A district judge is holding the 44-year-old driver on two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths, and prosecutors have discovered discrepancies in the driver’s log books, showing he was traveling at the time the log book shows “sleep was occurring.”

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As reported by DelMarvaNow.com, a former Wicomico County Sherriff’s Office Deputy was recently indicted by a Wicomico County grand jury for sex crime charges. The 44-year-old is charged with using his position as a school resource officer to allegedly sexually abuse a student, and the former deputy now faces charges for second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sex offense. Court documents reveal that the man met the victim through his position at Parkside High School when the female student was 15 years old.

The sexual abuse progressed from “sexual activities” to the pair having sexual intercourse at the 44-year-old’s home. At the request of the Wicomico County Sherriff’s Office, the state police launched an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse. The alleged abuse took place between June 1999 and June 2002, according to a Maryland State Police interview with the victim.

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According to a news report by The Baltimore Sun, a gun buyback event in Baltimore had hundreds of people turning in guns, possibly spurred by the tragic elementary school shooting in Connecticut on December 14. The event, which was funded by Klein's ShopRite supermarkets, had been scheduled as a violence prevention initiative, and the buyback participants traded in their guns for a $100 gift card to the stores. The supermarket group got the buyback idea from one of its partners who had run similar events in Philadelphia.

The company secured the backing of both the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore City Council President, which will take the guns away and melt them down.

A total of 461 were turned into Baltimore Police during the December 15 event. The total number of guns collected compares well with other similar efforts, though many of the weapons turned in midday were shotguns and rifles, which are rarely used to shoot individuals in Baltimore. Police report that they have recovered 2,000 guns during arrests this year.

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A 19-year-old resident of Salisbury faces a variety of criminal charges after allegedly stealing an ambulance which belonged to Hart to Heart Ambulance Service, headquartered in Camden, DE. According to a report from DelMarvaNow.com, the incident began shortly before 8 a.m. on December 4 when several drivers called 9-1-1 to report that an ambulance was being driven in a reckless manner on Route 50 in Talbot County. Troopers from the Centreville and Easton barracks pursued the ambulance as it accelerated and continued west on Route 50 into Queen Anne’s County.

The high speed chase continued until, at Route 404, the ambulance drove into the park-and-ride lot on the east side of Route 50, where it struck a parked Cadillac, hit a curb, and then came to a stop in a nearby grassy area. The ambulance had significant damage to its front end and undercarriage, but fortunately no one was injured during the pursuit, which reportedly lasted about 10 minutes. The driver of the stolen ambulance told troopers he had been a patient at a Delaware Hospital and needed a ride home, which is why he took the emergency vehicle.

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According to a Silver Spring Patch report, the federal government has a new tool in the fight against the violent gang MS-13, which has a strong presence in Montgomery and Prince George’s County in Maryland. In October, the violent gang was the first criminal street gang to be named a transnational criminal organization by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and this designation allows the government to seize the assets of the group and freeze property. This designation also states that anyone who conducts business with the gang may be sanctioned and face federal prosecution.

The supervisor of the Montgomery County Police Department's gang unit says the designation is important because it strikes at the gang’s finances, an essential part in “taking down gangs.”

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A 35-year-old Wheaton man, one of five men and women charged in a multi-state drug ring, was sentenced to 30 years in jail by a federal judge for his role as a purchaser, supplier, and dealer of crack and cocaine. As reported by Gazette.net, the 35-year-old was found guilty at trial in June of multiple charges, including conspiracy to distribute drugs, drug possession with the intent to distribute, as well as possession of a firearm in connection with drug trafficking. According to evidence presented during the five day trial, the defendant conspired with others to distribute cocaine between July 2009 and August 2010.

Law enforcement intercepted multiple phone conversations a day between the 35-year-old and another man in which they discussed transporting drugs and collecting debts from customers, in addition to tracking multiple trips by the pair to purchase cocaine from a supplier. According to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, the 36-year-old man, an illegal immigrant living in College Park, paid the defendant with crack cocaine and $1,000 for these trips, which occurred between Maryland and Texas. The 35-year-old was also involved in collecting drug debts from the man’s customers.

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