State releases footage of vehicle pursuit where girl dies

On Monday, investigators with the Maryland Attorney General’s office released body-worn camera footage of a high-speed pursuit that occurred last month, starting in Calvert County and ending in the Harwood area of Anne Arundel County when the fleeing vehicle collided with a pickup truck. An unidentified female juvenile died in the crash, while two other occupants of the fleeing vehicle were injured.

The driver of the pickup truck was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

“The identity of the decedent is being withheld in accordance with juvenile privacy laws,” the attorney general’s office stated.

The officers pursuing the vehicle, which fled the area of Neeld Estates via Route 261 around 5:30 a.m. on May 13, were from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies Michael Lewis and Wyatt McDowell pursued the vehicle from Route 260, north on Route 4 to Route 2 and over the Calvert County line into Anne Arundel.

“During the overnight hours, Calvert County Sheriff’s deputies received multiple reports of cars being broken into in neighborhoods in the Huntingtown area,” the independent investigations division of the Maryland Attorney General’s office stated in a press release. “While investigating the crimes, deputies were alerted to a car driving in the area believed to be associated with the car break-ins.”

Throughout the approximately 25-mile chase, the deputies reported the fleeing vehicle was traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph and putting other motorists in peril.

The crash occurred near the Route 2 and Birdsville Road intersection. Deputies approached the fleeing vehicle, which ended up off the road, and drew their weapons. The video shows they removed the occupants, with the exception of the front seat passenger, who was unresponsive. She was subsequently taken to the hospital and pronounced dead later.

In total, six people, all believed to be juveniles from the Glen Burnie area, were facing charges related to the alleged break-ins and the high-speed chase.

On Tuesday, Calvert Sheriff Ricky Cox (R) told Southern Maryland News that investigators from the attorney general’s office will be investigating the May 13 incident and the events that led up to it.

Of the high-speed chase from Calvert into another jurisdiction, Cox said, “We’re going to continue to do that. If you come into Calvert County and commit a crime you are going to be held accountable.”