The passenger of a car that was fleeing police when it crashed Thursday afternoon on Interstate 95 in Laurel, Maryland, has died, police say. The driver of the car was pronounced dead shortly after the crash.
In a news release Friday, Howard County police identified the driver of the 2004 Toyota Camry as 24-year-old Malik Emmanual Britton, of Laurel. The passenger has been identified as 21-year-old Jonathan Asare Somuah, of Silver Spring, Maryland. Neither man was wearing a seat belt at the time.
The crash, which also involved a tractor trailer and an SUV, shut down part of the highway near Maryland Route 216 in the Laurel area for several hours Thursday. The driver of the truck and the SUV were both taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Howard County police said it all began when officers were called to 9100 block of All Saints Road in Laurel Thursday afternoon for a call about drug activity involving the Camry. When officers arrived, Britton “suddenly accelerated and fled from the scene,” evading officers’ attempts to stop the car and driving onto the northbound lane of I-95, police said.
The Camry tried to make an illegal U-turn into the southbound lane but lost control and was struck by a tractor trailer. The Camry also struck a Subaru Forester SUV, which was run off the road.
Both Britton and Somuah were taken to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where they were pronounced dead.
Police said they found “large quantities” of drugs and cash inside the Camry along with two digital scales.
