Charles Co. Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash on Mattawoman Beantown Road under Investigation

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On June 29, at 2 p.m., officers responded to a business in the 11900 block of Acton Lane in Waldorf for the report of a male beating and choking a woman and a possible carjacking in progress. The victim and suspect were unknown to each other and, according to witnesses, it appeared to be a random attack. A patrol officer, who was nearby, arrived and observed the injured woman on the ground. He also observed the suspect driving away in the victim’s car at a high rate of speed. Officers followed the car southbound onto Mattawoman Beantown Road where the suspect continued driving at high speeds and in a reckless manner. As the suspect approached Poplar Hill Road, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a dump truck. The suspect was pronounced deceased on the scene. The driver of the dump truck was treated for injuries that were not life threatening. The woman who was assaulted was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. In accordance with Maryland law, the Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division (IID) and the Maryland State Police (MSP) was contacted and responded to the scene to lead the investigation. Anyone with additional information about this incident is asked to call the Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division at 410-576-7070. The investigation is ongoing.

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The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) in 2001 and has since earned the highest rating of Excellence. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.

Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: https://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at https://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at https://so.md/expungeme.

 

[Editor]

Independent Investigations Division Investigating Fatal Pursuit in Charles County

BALTIMORE, MD (June 29, 2023) – The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General is investigating a fatal crash that occurred following a police pursuit in Charles County on Thursday afternoon.

On June 29, at approximately 2:00 p.m., officers with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 11900 block of Acton Lane in Waldorf for reports of a woman being assaulted by a man in a parking lot and a possible carjacking. Officers were made aware that the man who was not known to the woman left the scene after stealing the woman’s car. The first arriving officer spotted the woman’s car being driven out of the parking lot and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the male driver failed to stop and led officers on a pursuit for several minutes. While fleeing south on Mattawoman-Beantown Road, the man lost control of the car, struck a grass median, crossed into the northbound lanes of Mattawoman-Beantown Road and collided with a dump truck. The man was pronounced dead on scene. The dump truck driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital. The woman who was assaulted was taken to a local hospital also with minor injuries. No officers were injured.

The IID is investigating this incident with assistance from the Maryland State Police Crash Team.

The IID will generally release the name of the involved officers within 48 hours of the incident, though that period may be extended if an officer is injured, or if there is a specific reason to believe that an officer’s safety is at risk.

There were Sheriff’s officers’ dashboard cameras and microphones that activated during the incident. The IID will generally release body camera footage or dashboard camera footage within 14 days of an incident. There may be situations where more than 14 days is necessary, including if investigators need more time to complete witness interviews, if there are technical delays caused by the need to redact the identities of civilian witnesses, or to allow family members to view the video before it is released to the public.

 

[Editor]

Officers and Driver Identified in Fatal Police Pursuit in Charles County

BALTIMORE, MD (July 3, 2023)- The Independent Investigations Division of the Office of the Attorney General has identified the deceased driver and involved officers in the fatal police pursuit that occurred on June 29, 2023, in Charles County.

The deceased driver has been identified as 34-year-old Dejuan Mitchell of Waldorf, Maryland.

The involved officers have been identified as Master Corporal William Saunders, a 19-year veteran of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office; Police Officer First Class Dureyea Toland, a 4-year veteran of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office; and Officer Keegan Dunn, who has a total of 4 years of law enforcement experience.

The Independent Investigations Division, with the assistance of the Maryland State Police Crash Team, continues to investigate the circumstances of the fatal pursuit. To read the original news release, click here.