ST. MARY’S TODAY

ST. INIGOES --- A Frederick County teen who was operating a stolen vehicle on Monday, July 5th, which was spotted in Leonardtown by St. Mary’s Sheriff David Zylak, who attempted to stop the car when he learned the car was stolen, led police on a high speed chase ending in a tragic crash.  Just a half hour before, unknown to the Sheriff, the stolen car had been involved in a hit and run crash in San Souci Shopping Center.

The youth sped away from the Sheriff at the bottom of the hill at Leonardtown Wharf and continued to elude deputies and a Maryland State Trooper as he sped through traffic down Rt. 5 from Leonardtown.

The chase ended when the teen, Darryl Parker, 16, attempted to pass a vehicle, overcorrected and went into the northbound lane as he approached Waterview Drive in St. Inigoes and crashed head-on into a gold mini van operated by an elderly woman.

The woman was reported to be groggy and semi-conscious, had cuts and scratches and may have hit the windshield on her car.
The fleeing felon who hit her was immediately captured by St. Mary’s Deputy Edward Evans' K-9 dog which embedded several good bites on the youth as he attempted to run from the wreckage.  As a result of the wreck, the stolen car caught fire.

Ridge Volunteer Fire Department units responded to the scene and put out the car fire and worked to extricate the woman, who’s van had gone down into a ditch after the impact.

Cpl. William Rosado of the Maryland State Police reports that Trooper Eric Evans was assisting in the chase which covered about 20 miles along Rt. 5 when a vehicle pulled out in front of his marked police cruiser. Trooper Evans took evasive action and his police car slid into a curb, knocking out the rear suspension of the police cruiser.

This chase, unlike most others, won’t have too much questioning from the boss as Sheriff Zylak doesn’t need anyone to fill him in on what took place.

"It all started when I was driving through Leonardtown near the Post Office," Sheriff Zylak told ST. MARY’S TODAY at the scene. "This vehicle suddenly swerved around in front of me as well as was speeding. I ran the tag and followed him down the hill behind the courthouse."

"I called for another unit as I was in soft clothes and in an unmarked vehicle and I had learned the car was stolen," said the Sheriff. "As soon as I approached him, he took off."

The chase was on at that point, as police protocol for high-speed chases, which have been designed in most agencies in recent years, would still allow to proceed due to having a stolen car involved.

Deputy First Class John Cusic was heading south towards the lower part of the county from Mechanicsville, with stop sticks, while Deputy First Class Stephen Myers was in Park Hall and attempted to deploy his set of stop sticks but was unsuccessful in bringing the stolen car to a halt.

Stop sticks are often successfully deployed to end a chase. The devise will flatten the tires of a suspect without blowing them out or causing a crash. They have been deployed several times in St. Mary’s County in high-speed chases. There is some risk to the police officer, as he has to stand fairly close to the road to toss them out in front of a speeding vehicle and then quickly pull them back to keep from causing police cars to have their tires flattened.

While Sheriff Zylak waited for a traffic reconstructionist from his agency to arrive to began the task of measuring the crash scene, a United States Park Police helicopter arrived to transport the injured woman to a shock trauma center.
The chopper landed in a field and was quickly loaded with both the victim and the suspect on the same flight.
Should the woman die from her injuries, the teen driver could be charged as an adult with manslaughter.  The car had been reported stolen by the youth in Frederick, said Zylak.