Charles County, MD… The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is releasing video footage related to a traffic stop that occurred on August 25 in which the suspect vehicle fled and was later involved in a fatal crash on Crain Highway near McKendree Road in Brandywine.
Under Maryland law, investigative authority in this case rests with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division (IID). This afternoon, the IID released video footage from body?worn cameras and in?car cameras of the officers involved in the traffic stop.
In addition to their release, the CCSO is providing the same footage with critical context, including the original traffic stop, police dispatch and radio communications, and on?screen captions. These elements give a fuller picture of the unfolding events and illustrate the actions of the driver as she fled from the traffic stop.
The content will show that on August 25 at approximately 10:20 a.m., Charles County Sheriff’s officers initiated a traffic stop on a silver Toyota passenger car in the area of Leonardtown Road at Lakewood Drive in Waldorf. The stop was requested by the Arlington County Police Department after learning that one of the vehicle’s occupants had over 20 active warrants from multiple jurisdictions, including Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel, and Frederick counties. Several of the warrants were felony offenses.
During the stop, officers observed three occupants in the vehicle: two in the front seat and one in the back. The front?seat passenger, an adult female, was confirmed to be the subject of the active warrants. As officers attempted to make contact with the occupants, the suspect locked the passenger door, instructed the driver to get out of the car, and climbed over the console and into the driver’s seat. The suspect then pushed an officer out of the doorway, dislodging his body-worn camera, and fled with a back?seat passenger still in the vehicle.
Officers pursued the suspect vehicle but lost sight of the car near Crain Highway and Substation Road due to heavy traffic. Radio transmissions show the primary officer advised he would discontinue the search if no units were available ahead of him, and after officers saw the suspect traveling the wrong way on Crain Highway, a supervisor terminated the pursuit. Seconds later, the officers observed the suspect vehicle had crashed into two vans in the southbound lanes of Crain Highway near McKendree Road in Prince George’s County. They immediately rendered aid to the motorists involved.
Body?worn camera and in?car camera footage later showed that the suspect crossed the median from the northbound lanes into the southbound lanes of Crain Highway and was actually behind the officers before driving directly into oncoming traffic and striking the vans.
The suspect sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital. The back?seat passenger, Alexis Monique Cummings, 33 was flown to a trauma center, where she later died. The occupants of the vans were treated for non?life?threatening injuries.
To view the video, click on this link: https://youtu.be/r-MlCmNRrfg. Viewer discretion is recommended, as the footage contains graphic content.
