State Police Maryland State Police Investigating Fatal Five-Vehicle Crash in Montgomery County

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(BETHESDA, MD) – Maryland State Police are investigating a fatal five-vehicle crash that occurred Wednesday morning in Montgomery County.

The deceased is identified as Diane Karras, 77, of Silver Spring. She was transported by ambulance to Suburban Hospital, where she was later pronounced deceased.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m., troopers from the Maryland State Police Rockville Barrack responded to the outer loop of I-495 west of Maryland Route 187 (Old Georgetown Road) for a crash involving four vehicles and a tow truck. According to the preliminary investigation, all five vehicles were traveling on I-495 when the tow truck failed to control its speed and struck the rear of a Honda Civic, operated by Karras, before veering off the left shoulder of the roadway. The tow truck then reentered the roadway and struck a Ford Ranger, subsequently causing the Ford Ranger to strike a Chevrolet Traverse, which then led the Traverse to strike a Dodge Grand Caravan.

The driver of the Ford Ranger was also transported to Suburban Hospital by ambulance.

Personnel from the Montgomery County Police Department and Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration assisted with road closures, which lasted approximately three hours.

The Maryland State Police Crash Team is leading the investigation. Charges are pending consultation with the Office of the State’s Attorney for Montgomery County. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

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CONTACT: Office of Media Communications, msp.media@maryland.gov

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.