A head-on collision in Frederick County left one man dead and another in the hospital on Tuesday, January 22.
Maryland State Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred near the border of Frederick and Carroll counties.
Paul Joseph Klausmeyer, age 49, was traveling westbound in his Saturn on Maryland Route 26 around 6:30 a.m. when the accident occurred.
For reasons unknown, a Jeep Cherokee that was headed eastbound crossed the double centerline near the intersection for Albaugh Road and hit Klausmeyer’s vehicle in a head-on collision.
Klausmeyer, who is a resident of Woodbine, was pronounced dead at the scene from his injuries.
The driver of the Jeep has since been identified as 24-year-old Stephen Joseph Hardesty Jr. of Sykesville. Hardesty was rushed by helicopter to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He was in serious but stable condition as of Thursday afternoon.
At this time, no charges have been filed in relation to the crash. Police are still trying to determine what caused Hardesty to cross the centerline. It does not appear that drugs or alcohol were factors in the fatal Frederick County crash.
Several days later, the jaws of life were required following a two-car auto accident in Montgomery County on Thursday, January 24.
Specific details of the accident were scarce, but police reports show that two vehicles collided along the inner loop of the Capital Beltway near Connecticut Avenue.
Montgomery Fire and Rescue had to extricate four of the five people from the vehicles. One man suffered life-threatening injuries, and two others were being treated for minor injuries. None of those involved in the accident have been identified at this time.