CHARLOTTE HALL – Mid-day last Saturday, 12:34 p.m., A Chevy Cavalier with three occupants attempted to pass a car while driving west on Charles Street over the Zekiah Swamp bridge in Charlotte Hall.  That section of road is marked with a double yellow line, indicating that passing is illegal there.  The Chevy collided head on with Charles County Sheriff’s K9 Officer Corporal R. Leukhardt, who was responding to a non-emergency warrant service call.  The crash totaled Officer Leukhardt’s cruiser, a Volvo station wagon, and the Chevy. 

Rt. 6/Charles Street was closed for several hours while rescue workers extracted the victims from the wreckage of their vehicles.  Four med-evac helicopters transported the injured to area hospitals.  

Cpl Leukhardt’s injuries weren’t life threatening, but he was flown to the MedStar Unit at Washington Hospital Center for evaluation.  Two police K9s were with him in the vehicle.  Their injuries were minor and they are expected to return to service.  Police Spokeswoman Kristen Timko told The Bay Net, “The officer and dogs were especially lucky, given the nature of the crash.”

The three occupants of the Cavalier, however, did have life-threatening injuries. The front seat passenger, Timothy Barnes, 20, of La Plata, was also flown to MedStar. The driver, Anthony Martin, 18, of La Plata, and the back seat passenger, Richard Staley, 21, of Waldorf, were flown to Prince George’s County Hospital Center.  Their condition is still serious.

Cpl. Leukhardt was wearing his seatbelt and the dogs were secured in the back of the vehicle. Crash investigators don’t yet know if Barnes, Martin and Stanley were wearing seatbelts. Early investigation says the cause of the crash is the Cavalier crossing the center line and passing in a no passing zone. Whether speed or any other factors contributed to the crash is still under investigation.

MedStar, US Park Police and Maryland State Police helicopters flew the injured to the hospital and another K9 handler collected the dogs. Cpl. R.H. Taylor of the Traffic Operations Unit is investigating.

 

 

Anna Dailey is TheBayNet.com’s associate editor for Charles County.  To contact her about this article or other community issues, comment below or email annadailey@thebaynet.com.

Photos courtesy of the Charles County Sheriff’s Dept.