A state trooper was hospitalized Tuesday after two men crashed into his vehicle while fleeing a traffic stop in Anne Arundel County, according to Maryland State Police.
Walter Bandy, 56, of Glen Burnie was the driver of a Ford F-150 that police tried to stop shortly before 12:30 p.m. in the area of Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena, police said. The truck was being pulled over for a license plate violation — it didn’t have a front plate, Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo told WTOP.
Bandy did not stop the car and, in an effort to escape the scene, crashed into an unmarked trooper’s vehicle, according to authorities.
The trooper, who has not been publicly identified, was in his vehicle when Bandy’s truck crashed into it. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie for treatment of his injuries.
Russo could not comment on the trooper’s medical condition.
An investigation brought police to a residence on Spencer Road in Glen Burnie, where they located the F-150 and arrested both Bandy and his passenger, 46-year-old Jeffrey Bawgus, of Baltimore.
Both men have been charged with drug possession and traffic charges related to the incident.
Bawgus already had two active warrants out for his arrest, according to the news release.
Russo said troopers are “working our highways daily to keep motorists safe.”
According to Russo, “When somebody leaves a traffic stop, it puts not just the troopers’ lives in danger,” but also the lives of other drivers traveling in that area.
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
