Breaking news and informative articles throughout Maryland

This page of our website contains the most recent, groundbreaking, and informative stories about Maryland injuries, including car wrecks, motorcycle wrecks and 18-wheeler crashes. If you have been injured in a Maryland auto accident in Silver Spring, Rockville, or Fredrick, contact our office today.

News Category: All CategoriesDivorce and Custody in MarylandAuto AccidentsTruck AccidentsMotorcycle AccidentsGeneral

Divorce and Custody in Maryland

• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich Asked for an “Open Marriage” from his Second Wife
  Jan 19, 2012

  It’s being reported today that Speaker Newt Gingrich asked his second wife, Marianne Gingrich, for an “open marriage” in order to continue his relationship with one of his congressional assistants, who he eventually married and is now his third wife.  Marianne Gingrich says she refused.
  
  An “open marriage” is one where the spouses agree that each (or one spouse) may in engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being considered infidelity or adultery by the partners.
  
  But open marriages may pose complicated legal issues.  For instance, in some tates where extramarital sex (adultery) is illegal, the spouse having the extramarital affair would be committing a crime, whether or not the other spouse gives his or her consent.
  
  Further, in states like Maryland where adultery is a ground for divorce, agreeing to an “open marriage” may foreclose the spouse who later changes her mind about the arrangement from bringing a divorce case on the ground of adultery.  The spouse having the affair may be able to raise the defenses of reconciliation, condonation or recrimination.
  
  The interview of Marriane Gingrich is currently scheduled to air this evening on ABC News.
  

Auto Accidents

• With Police in Chase, Burglary Suspect Dies in Maryland Car Crash
  Feb 17, 2012

  A Maryland car chase turned fatal Tuesday, January 24, when a burglary suspect who was trying to flee police caused a three-car auto accident. The suspect, Aaron Nathaniel McCoy Jr., was killed in the crash.

  McCoy and Jenard David Toliver, both 21 years old and residents of Baltimore, are suspects in a string of robberies that occurred over the weekend in northern Baltimore County.

  According to police, the two had just completed another burglary shortly before the car chase. They were driving a gray 2006 Honda Accord they had previously stolen when a victim of their latest burglary caught them driving off and called police with a partial license number.

  Police saw a vehicle matching the description of the stolen vehicle speeding southbound along Jarrettsville Pike (Dulaney Valley Road). When they tried to pull over the vehicle, the driver did not stop. Police cars turned over the chase to an aviation crew that followed the vehicle from above. McCoy, who was driving the vehicle, continued to speed up.

  About 3 p.m. he tried to swerve around a Jeep Grand Cherokee but missed, striking the vehicle’s left corner. Both vehicles veered into opposing traffic and hit a white GMC 2500 truck traveling northbound.

  The Honda then crashed into a utility pole near Ivy Church Road. McCoy was rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead. 

  Toliver had exited the vehicle near Merrymans Mill Road five minutes before the accident, and police quickly apprehended him. He is currently being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Several of the missing items, mostly electronics, were recovered from the stolen vehicle.

  Three others involved in the Maryland auto accident were treated for minor injuries.

• Car Chase Involving Reckless Maryland Driver Leaves Cop Injured
  Feb 15, 2012

  A Maryland State Trooper was injured in a Maryland auto accident Friday, Feb. 3 by a driver who failed to pull over for a traffic stop.

  Senior Trooper Jon Sawa was attempting to pull over a 2005 Chevy Cobalt shortly after midnight for erratic driving along Mountain Road in Harford County. The driver, 22-year-old John Jacob Nussle V, fled the scene. 

  Sawa gave chase, following Nussle for three full miles before Sawa crashed into a fence in front of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church along Old Joppa Road. A fence post struck the windshield on the driver’s side, hitting a radar mounted on the dash and barely missing Sawa’s head.

  Sawa was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment of minor injuries. He has since been released. It is unknown what caused Sawa to veer off the road.

  Meanwhile, Harford County Sheriff’s deputies who were monitoring the chase by radio spotted Nussle on Atkinson Road and continued the chase until he crashed on Singer Road in Abingdon about 12:20 a.m. 

  Nussle, a Joppa resident, was uninjured in the accident. He faces charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, assault and malicious destruction of property. Nussle rammed Sawa’s cruiser at least once during the chase.

  Sawa, who comes from a long line of police officers, lost his father to a Maryland truck accident in the line of duty 25 years ago. Trooper John Edward Sawa died on March 10, 1987, when his cruiser was hit by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 95 near Havre de Grace. 

• Four Killed in Maryland Drunk Driving Accident in Anne Arundel County
  Feb 13, 2012

  Preliminary reports show that both drivers in a fatal Maryland auto accident that occurred on Saturday, Jan. 28 were driving while drunk.

  The accident, which killed three teens and a middle-aged man, happened at 3:30 a.m. along U.S. Route 50, east of Davidsonville Road in Anne Arundel County.

  Brittany Ann Walker, 19, was driving a Chrysler Sebring south of Crofton. She and two friends were on their way home from a birthday party.

  For reasons unknown, Walker was traveling the wrong way on the eastbound side of the divided highway when she collided head-on with a black BMW convertible. Terry Davis, the 55-year-old driver of the BMW and a warehouse manager, was headed home from an evening of dinner and cards with friends.

  The crash left one of the vehicles engulfed in flames. Rescue workers spent hours putting out the fire and extracting the victims from the mangled vehicles.

  Walker and Davis both died in the fiery crash, as did Walker’s two passengers, Breanna Marie Franco and Zachary Tyler Rose, both 18 years old. The teens all died at the scene while Davis was pronounced dead later at Anne Arundel Medical Center. 

  According to police, several people had called 911 to report a speeding vehicle driving the wrong way along Interstate 97 and Route 50 just before the accident occurred. Police are still trying to piece together when and why Walker entered the wrong side of the highway.

  Walker, who was studying nursing at Anne Arundel Community College, had pleaded guilty to speeding in an October incident, where she was charged with going 91 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone near Hagerstown.

  The wrongful death lawyers at Nickelsporn & Lundin express our deepest sympathies to the families who lost loved ones in this tragic Maryland car crash.

• Prince George’s County Hit-and-Run Crash Kills 2; Police Seek Driver
  Feb 07, 2012

  Two pedestrians, a man and a woman, have died following a hit-and-run accident that occurred early morning on Friday, Jan. 6 in Prince George’s County.

  Michael Thomas, 55, and Mildred Freeman, 62, were attempting to cross Oxon Hill Road in Oxon Hill around 7 a.m. when a small gray car hit them, according to witnesses who saw the accident happen.

  A spokesman from the Prince George’s County Police Department said the two pedestrians were in the center left-hand turning lane waiting to finish crossing the street when they were hit. They were not in the crosswalk at the time.

  Though Maryland State Law requires that a driver stop at the scene of an accident with injuries, the person driving the gray compact car instead fled the scene, which is a felony charge.

  Thomas and Freeman were both taken to a local hospital with critical injuries. Thomas, whose injuries appeared to be non-threatening at first, suddenly got worse and died Friday night. Freeman died Saturday afternoon. It was not immediately known how Thomas and Freeman knew each other.

  The accident is still under investigation. Police are looking for more information regarding the vehicle, which was headed east on Oxon Hill Road, or its driver. Anyone with information is asked to call the police’s investigative unit at 301-306-5640 or, to make an anonymous tip, call Crime Solvers at 866-411-8477.

  The experienced Maryland wrongful death attorneys at Nickelsporn & Lundin express our deepest sympathies to the families of Michael Thomas and Mildred Freeman.

• Gasoline tanker truck involved in Maryland auto accident
  Jan 31, 2012

  A three-vehicle accident in Prince George’s County on December 5 involved minimal injury or damage but left a road closed for nine hours.
  
  A passenger car, box truck, and gasoline tanker were all involved in the crash along the southbound lanes of Route 3 near Route 450.
  
  Ngozi Onuma, 21, was driving a Mercury Grand Marquis. She was attempting to merge onto southbound Route 3 from Route 450 about 9:30 p.m. when she was hit.
  
  Marc Gregorio, 40, was driving a box truck along southbound Route 3 when, for reasons still unknown, he collided with Onuma’s car. He then lost control of the truck and veered into a neighboring lane, where his vehicle was hit.
  
  Nathaniel Tiggle, 40, was driving a Fleet Transport Inc. tanker loaded down with 9,000 gallons of gasoline. He tried to avoid the accident but couldn’t. Instead, he slammed into the back of Gregorio’s truck before overturning onto the highway.
  
  Tiggle was taken to Bowie Health Center for treatment and then released. Neither of the other two drivers wanted medical treatment.
  
  Maryland State Police say the accident caused only minimal environmental damage. When cleaning crews lifted up the tanker truck to get it upright, 100 gallons of gas spilled, which was less than they expected.
  
  A portion of Route 3 was closed for nearly nine hours as crews cleaned up the mess. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
  

• Driving Under the Influence Ends in Maryland Auto Accident
  Jan 31, 2012

  The young man who fled the scene of a fatal Olney car crash last May received a 20-year sentence for his role in the Montgomery County car accident.
  
  Kevin Coffay, 20, was the driver on the fateful night of May 15, 2011. With him were four passengers, all of whom had attended Magruder High School.
  
  As Coffay rounded a dangerous curve on Olney-Laytonsville Road, he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The accident killed 20-year-old John Hoover and 18-year-olds Spencer Datt and Haeley McGuire; it also injured Charles Nardella, 19.
  
  Nardella testified that Coffay had been drinking that night and that the others in the car had asked him to slow down. Coffay fled the scene of the accident. When police caught him three hours later, his blood alcohol level was double the legal limit.
  
  Coffay pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter in November and has been out on bond. Judge Theresa M. Adams suspended 20 years of a 40-year sentence and ordered Coffay to complete 5 years of probation following 20 years in prison.
  
  The Rockville accident attorneys at Nickelsporn & Lundin send our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones in last May’s auto accident.
  

• Two men lose their lives in separate southern Maryland accidents
  Jan 30, 2012

  At least two auto accidents in southern Maryland turned fatal the week of December 12.
  
  The first fatal accident occurred along southbound Interstate 270 during morning rush hour on Wednesday, December 14. The Montgomery County accident happened near the Germantown exit around 6:45 a.m.
  
  In total, the collision involved four vehicles and a pedestrian. The crash started when a tractor-trailer hit and killed a pedestrian. The man, whose name has not been released, was apparently trying to cross all eight lanes of the highway when he was hit.
  
  Maryland State Police are still investigating the crash but have not made any charges. A portion of the interstate was closed for two hours, leading to a mile-long backup for commuters.
  
  Another man died early Saturday morning, December 17, in Temple Hills.
  
  Byron Hilton, 22, lost control of his Jeep Cherokee around 4:30 a.m. as he was exiting the ramp from the Capital Beltway to eastbound St. Barnabas Road.
  
  His vehicle left the road and rolled over. Hilton, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle and then pinned under it. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
  
  Maryland State Police said there were signs of alcohol at the scene, but they do not know if alcohol caused the crash. The Prince George’s County accident is still under investigation.
  
  The southern Maryland accident lawyers at Nickelsporn & Lundin express their deepest sympathies to the families of the men who lost their lives in these two accidents.
  

• Eastern Maryland Auto Accident Sends 14 to Hospital
  Jan 22, 2012

   

  A two-vehicle eastern Maryland car accident left 14 people with non life-threatening injuries on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
  
  The Maryland auto accident occurred around 4 p.m. when a tour bus and a passenger vehicle collided on a local highway.
  
  According to reports from the Maryland State Police, both vehicles were heading eastbound on Route 610 in Whaleyville, Worcester County.
  
  Daniel Elton Nelson, 27, was driving a 2004 Honda Civic. Roger Coston Hornsby, 67, was directly behind him, driving a 1998 Blue Bird tour bus. When Nelson slowed to make a turn, Hornsby was unable to stop in time and rammed into the back of Nelson’s car. The tour bus then veered off the road and into a ditch.
  
  Both drivers and all 12 passengers on the tour bus, employees of Mountaire Farms, were transported to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. However, none were believed to have life-threatening injuries.
  
  State troopers closed off the eastbound portion of the highway until the accident could be cleared. Several local fire departments were on the scene to help.
  
  The accident is still under investigation and no charges have been filed, though police did say that charges are pending against Hornsby. News reports say Hornsby had been cited and fined for speeding on the same road in August.
  
  The Maryland accident attorneys at Nickelsporn and Lundin wish a quick and full recovery to all who were involved.
  

• New Year Starts With Sorrow After Montgomery County Accident Claims 2
  Jan 21, 2012

  Two young people died in a Montgomery County car accident hours after ringing in the New Year.
  
  The single-vehicle crash happened just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1. Roderick Eugene Brice II, 22, was driving a white 2007 Chevy TrailBlazer full of passengers westbound on Jones Bridge Road near Lancaster Drive in Bethesda.
  
  He apparently lost control of the vehicle, drove up onto the sidewalk and through a fence before slamming to a stop into a tree.
  
  Front seat passenger Nicholas Scott Clayton, 20, and back seat passenger Kaitlin Marie Gallagher, 18, both died at the scene of the accident.
  
  Clayton’s Rockville home had been condemned a few days before Christmas. His mother had died a few months ago, and his father was out of town at the time of the accident.
  
  Gallagher, whose address is unknown, also went by KeKe Karlsson. She was in her second trimester of pregnancy.
  
  Brice sustained injuries in the Maryland car crash, as did his two other passengers, 18-year-old Conor Hayes and 19-year-old Kevin Russel.
  
  Montgomery County Police found empty beer cans in the vehicle, but pointed out that the presence of the cans does not necessarily mean Brice was drunk. They have not yet released his blood alcohol level at the time of the accident.
  
  The three surviving passengers in the vehicle were wearing seatbelts, but it was not immediately known if Clayton or Gallagher were wearing theirs.
  
  Police are still investigating the accident.
  
  The Silver Spring personal injury attorneys at Nickelsporn & Lundin offer their deepest condolences to the families of Clayton and Gallagher, as well as those injured.
  




Nickelsporn & Lundin represent victims who have been injured in auto accidents throughout the state of Maryland, including the following areas:
Montgomery County including Silver Spring, Wheaton, Kensington, Olney, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown; Prince George's County including Laurel, Greenbelt, Bowie, Hyattsville, College Park, Lanham, Landover, Oxon Hill, and Suitland; as well as Frederick County including Frederick, Brunswick, Emmitsburg, Thurmont, Mount Airy, Middletown, New Market and Walkersville.



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