A man was killed and four police officers were injured Tuesday night on a Maryland highway when a suspected impaired driver crashed into a pickup truck, then a second suspected impaired driver crashed into the crowd of police cars the first crash.
According to the Maryland State Police, the wild series of events started when 59-year-old Victoria Cross crashed her car into a pickup truck driven by Marc Alexander, 60, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on Route 202 in Largo.
“A trooper responded, as did three officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department,” said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley.
That’s when a second suspected suspected driver plowed into the state police car, with the state trooper still inside it, investigators said.
“The force of that crash caused the Maryland State Police patrol car to spin into the three county police officers who were standing by the first crash,” Shipley said. “That vehicle continued on and struck the man who had been hit in that first crash.”
Alexander was killed. The three Prince George’s County officers and the state trooper were injured and taken to a hospital.
“We had one person killed and four police officers injured as a result of not one but two drivers who appeared to have been driving impaired,” Shipley said.
Cross was charged with driving under the influence, driving while impaired, reckless driving and negligent driving.
The investigation into the second suspected impaired driver, who caused the fatal crash, is ongoing. She was identified as Iretha Spriggs, 38, from Capitol Heights, Maryland.
“She was transported by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of injuries,” Shipley said. “Charges are pending.”
