BELCAMP, MD — The sheriff's deputy involved in a fatal police chase in June will not be charged, the state's attorney general announced Wednesday.
In a statement, Attorney General Anthony Brown said he will not seek charges in the June 9 crash in Belcamp. An investigation by his office found that the officer, Senior Deputy Allen Jennings, did not commit a crime under Maryland law.
The crash happened around 3:25 p.m. on June 9 on Route 40 near Riverside Parkway. Investigators said the sheriff's deputy attempted to stop a Buick sedan on Route 40 and activated emergency lights and sirens. The driver initially braked and slowed down, indicating he was going to stop before he sped away and collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Route 40 and Riverside Parkway.
The pursuit lasted less than one minute and spanned 1.5 miles.
The initial collision triggered a chain-reaction crash involving four other cars, authorities said. A total of five vehicles were involved, and each was occupied only by its driver. The fleeing vehicle caught fire, investigators said, and the flames spread to another vehicle involved in the crash.
By the time Jennings arrived at the scene, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. Deputies at the scene attempted to extinguish the fire, but couldn't, according to the investigation. Deputies began removing people from the crash area. Firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire, then removed the driver from the vehicle.
The fleeing driver, later identified as Tremayne Murphy, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other drivers were taken to area hospitals with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. No deputies were injured, according to authorities.
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