Two officers charged in connection with fatal crash in Anne Arundel County
BALTIMORE -- Two Anne Arundel County Police officers were indicted Friday in connection with a deadly crash that happened in 2023, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said Monday.
According to the AG's office, Corporal K. Schnell and Corporal E. Vasquez were involved in an unauthorized high-speed chase.
Officials said that in the early morning of December 7, the two officers began pursuing a white Infinity on the Stoney Creek drawbridge in Pasadena with the headlights turned off. Police said two patrol cars followed behind without their emergency lights on.
The car crashed into a utility pole at the intersection of Fort Smallwood and Bar Harbor Roads. The passenger, Damione Gardner, died at the scene, and the driver was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
"On December 7, 2023, two officers with the Anne Arundel County PD were involved in an unauthorized, high-speed pursuit over several miles that ended in the death of a passenger in the car being chased," Brown said.
Brown said the two officers misled their superiors about their participation in the pursuit and did not receive authorization to begin the pursuit. He also said the officers chased the car at speeds over 100 mph, failed to turn on their lights or sirens, and did not "tell the truth" that they were still pursuing the vehicle at the time of the crash.
They also added that the pursuit lasted several miles.
"These officers failed to tell the truth that they chased the car for more than three miles at speeds in excess of 100 mph, including over a two-lane drawbridge, with the speed limit on that bridge posted at 35 mph," Brown said.
If Schnell and Vasquez had been forthcoming about the details of the crash, the two officers would have been suspended, according to Brown.
Schnell and Vasquez are charged with misconduct in office.
"Immediately following the crash, both officers made factual misrepresentations and material omissions about the circumstances of the crash to responding officers," said Allison Green, the Chief of Independent Division. "They concealed the occurrence of a pursuit."
Anne Arundel County Chief of Police Amal Awad issued a statement Monday following the indictment of two Anne Arundel County police officers.
"I and the Anne Arundel County Police Department's executive command staff reviewed all of the evidence that was available to us," Awad said. "At this time, based on our review, we are not aware of any conduct demonstrated by our officers that rises to the level of a violation of criminal law."
An indictment is merely an accusation and not a finding of guilt, the AG's office said.
