A Montgomery County, Maryland, District Court judge has ordered the man accused of stealing a state highway truck and leading police on a chase across several suburban neighborhoods to be held without bond.
On Thursday, Judge Holly D. Reed III called the incident “one of the most extreme dangers I’ve seen in this community, maybe ever.”
Flavio Cesar Lanuza, 27, is facing several charges in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in connection with the Feb. 16 incident.
In arguing for his release on bond, attorney Maria Mena said in court that Lanuza was having a psychotic episode at the time of the nearly 30-mile chase. His family, Mena told the judge, noticed that he was acting strange in the week leading up to the incident. At times, he was pacing and nonverbal, Mena said.
“As a result, then, this whole episode takes place where yes, he does hit a car,” Mena said after the court appearance. “Yes, he does leave. And yes, he does take a state vehicle. But, the problem today is so many people do not understand what mental health is.”
Mena asked the judge for Lanuza to have a mental health evaluation, but Judge Reed urged her to request that at a different time. Lanuza should be transferred to a mental health facility, she said.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy, meanwhile, said his office “had concerns about whether there was alcohol or other substances involved,” but there’s no current indication that mental health played a role in the incident, he said.
In court, Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle O’Grady described how Lanuza got involved in a crash, and then ultimately stole the truck arriving to help him. He said Lanuza knocked down power lines, drove into oncoming traffic and hit several cars.
The Maryland State Highway Administration vehicle, O’Grady said, isn’t a normal truck. It weighs about 10,000 pounds, he told the judge, calling it “essentially a tank.”
Mena, meanwhile, said Lanuza was showing symptoms of a mental health crisis during the chase. He doesn’t have a criminal record, she said, and has been acting normal since he’s started receiving medication.
“Yes, people need to be held accountable,” Mena said. “But when someone does not have an understanding or realize what is taking place, then it needs to be addressed.”
O’Grady also said there’s a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer for Lanuza, and argued he would evade prosecution if released on bond, because he’d likely be taken into ICE custody.
But Alex Garcia, an attorney in Mena’s office, said there’s “a program for Nicaraguans specifically at this time, given the government’s conditions and the political conditions in the country, that they are being offered a legal status whereby they’re not in any way here illegally and show up to court and follow the system.”
Lanuza is facing felony assault and resisting arrest charges in Montgomery County. He’s also charged with stealing a state vehicle and driving under the influence in Prince George’s County.
McCarthy said he’s been working with Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy since the incident occurred. The case will be handled in Montgomery County first, he said, adding “we are coordinating in our prosecution.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 22.
The case, McCarthy said, is unique, because it was captured live by local news helicopters.
“It’s reminiscent of a famous case, where the same thing occurred,” he said. “It’s not so often that the public gets this kind of an eye view of what happens in some of these cases.”
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