[Scan-DC] 15$

[Randy Benn]

By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 16, 2003; Page B03

A high-speed car chase that streaked back and forth across suburban Maryland
last night ended near Annapolis, where a carjacked Mercedes-Benz carrying
two frightened Montgomery County toddlers was safely stopped and the suspect
was led away in handcuffs, police said.

It began in Baltimore, where police spotted the suspect in a stolen Infiniti
on Interstate 95, said Capt. John Fitzgerald, a Montgomery County police
spokesman.

The driver eluded Baltimore police, and about 8:30 p.m., after ditching the
stolen car, he flagged down a Montgomery County woman driving on River Road,
Fitzgerald said.

After the woman pulled over, he pulled her out of the black Mercedes-Benz
SUV and sped off with her 3-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl in the back
seat, Fitzgerald said.

The man led police on a pursuit at up to 100 mph along highways including
the Capital Beltway, where at times dozens of police cars were following the
SUV.

Because the SUV had a communications and navigation system, police were able
to listen to what was going on inside the car and knew the children were
safe, Fitzgerald said.

As the suspect skirted one roadblock after another, police couldn't get too
aggressive because the children were in the SUV, said Lt. Bud Frank, a
Maryland State Police spokesman. They couldn't blow out his tires or force
him off the road. They hoped his fuel would run out.

The suspect was heading on Route 50 from Prince George's County toward
Annapolis when he made a U-turn and hit a roadblock near Route 301 and
stopped, Frank said.

The man was being questioned by police last night. The children appeared
uninjured but were flown to Suburban Hospital, where they were reunited with
their parents, Fitzgerald said.

The hour-long drama was closely followed by police scanner buffs across the
region, who broadcast it through the Internet. An hour after the chase
ended, one person advertised audiotapes of the recorded chase for sale --
$15 apiece.


� 2003 The Washington Post Company

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Rigby" <srigby@smart.net>
To: <scan-dc@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 10:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] 15$


> Jack Anderson wrote:
>
> > How to give the hobby a bad name:
> >
> > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62450-2003Jul16.html
> >
> >
> > Read the last line.
>
>    Dadgummit!  The Washington Post.  I can't read it online because I
> do not like to sign up for these things, having to have my "cookies"
> turned on every time I visit such sites.
>
>    Steve
>
>
>
>
>
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