PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Body- and dash-camera video released Wednesday shows how a traffic stop in Charles County escalated into a chase that ended with a crash in Prince George’s County and the death of a 33-year-old woman.
The footage was made public nearly a month after the Aug. 25 incident. It was released by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office and the Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, which is reviewing whether officers acted within the law.
Deputies said the stop began in Waldorf and quickly unraveled when one woman got behind the wheel and sped away. The pursuit moved across county lines before ending in a collision that also injured the driver and damaged two vans.
How the stop began on Leonardtown Road in Waldorf
According to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, deputies pulled over a silver Toyota Camry near Leonardtown Road and Lakewood Drive in Waldorf after the stop was requested by Arlington police.
Deputies said one person in the car was wanted on more than 20 active warrants in several counties in Maryland and Virginia. The vehicle carried three women: two in the front seat and one in the back.
Video shows deputies approaching the Toyota and directing the occupants to get out. One front-seat passenger can be heard questioning why she is being ordered out. She then rolls up the window and locks the door, according to the video and investigators’ account.
Deputies say the front-seat passenger took control of the Toyota
As deputies helped the driver out of the vehicle, investigators said the front-seat passenger moved into the driver’s seat. The sheriff’s office said she pushed one deputy aside before getting behind the wheel and accelerating away.
The backseat passenger, Alexis Cummings, 33, was still inside the car when it drove off, according to investigators. Cummings later died after the crash in Prince George’s County.
The driver has not yet been publicly named. Investigators said she was the woman with the warrants, but the sheriff’s office has not released her identity as the crash investigation continues.
The pursuit crossed into Prince George’s County before officers lost sight of the car
After the Toyota sped away, deputies followed. Investigators said they lost sight of it near Crain Highway and Substation Road because of heavy traffic.
Deputies then spotted the vehicle traveling the wrong way on Crain Highway, according to the sheriff’s office. At that point, a supervisor ordered the pursuit terminated.
The chase had already moved from Charles County into Prince George’s County by then. The county line crossing is central to the case because the fatal wreck happened shortly after the chase was called off.
Crash on Crain Highway killed Alexis Cummings and injured the other driver
Not long after the pursuit ended, the Toyota slammed into two vans in the southbound lanes of Crain Highway near McKendree Road in Prince George’s County.
The drivers of the vans were not seriously hurt, according to investigators. The woman driving the Toyota was badly injured and taken to a hospital.
Cummings was also rushed to a hospital, where she later died. Investigators have not said whether any passengers in the vans needed further treatment beyond the initial assessment of their injuries.
Attorney general investigators are still reviewing what happened
The Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General is handling the review of the crash, a standard step when police use force or are involved in a death tied to an encounter.
State investigators have not finished their work, and officials have not said when the review will be completed. The sheriff’s office and the attorney general’s division have both released video as part of that process.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the attorney general’s office at 410-576-7070. At this stage, officials have not announced any charges or legal findings connected to the pursuit or the crash.
