Lout on PCP Who Struck Couple From Behind While They
Were Stopped at Traffic Light Only Cut His Finger
The body of one of two people killed by a speeding killer from Brandywine driving a Ford Expedition who plowed into the rear of their van at this intersection, lies on Rt. 301 in Waldorf. ST. MARY'S TODAY photo by Spencer Stevenson
Driver leaves Cobb Island Road, Killed When Pickup Hit Utility Pole
By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY’S TODAY
WALDORF --- Once again the use of drugs and or alcohol mixed with high speed has taken the lives of motorists on area highways in what has become a weekly parade of death.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Dornberger told ST. MARY’S TODAY that at about 3:15 am Saturday a Ford Expedition operated by a Brandywine man blew down Rt. 301 at what witnesses told police was over 100 mph and slammed into the rear of a minivan stopped at a traffic light, killing both persons in the van.
The killer behind the wheel, Richard Eugene Middleton Jr., 21, of Brandywine, suffered only a cut on his finger. Police say that he was using PCP and police were seen removing a Crown Royal bottle from his vehicle. Middleton was charged with manslaughter and jailed on $150,000 bond.
Middleton killed Sean Jones, 39, of Upper Marlboro and Roberta Baxter, 51, of Landover.
The grizzly scene took place on the southbound lanes of the highway but the wreckage scattered across the entire highway, closing the road to traffic for hours as police reconstructed the scene and gathered evidence which will be used to hopefully send Middleton to prison for as much as ten years.
The exact location of the crash was in front of the Chaney building at the intersection which leads into the Pinefield Shopping Center. Tfc. Zimmerman was the initial investigator.
Newburg Man Dead in Wreck
NEWBURG (Feb. 27, 2005) --- Just after 2:30 am today, one of the most dangerous times to be on area roads after the bars close, a Newburg man was killed when his pickup truck failed to stay to the right of the center line of Rt. 257 while he was traveling towards Cobb Island and he left the roadway, striking a utility pole.
Maryland State Police report that James Randy Hill, 39, was ejected from the truck and pronounced dead on the scene.
Tfc. Howcott and Trooper Jenkins are investigating. It is unknown at this time if alcohol was a factor.