Deadly Route 24 ShopRite Crash Investigation Is Over: Police

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Maryland State Police investigators say they have concluded their probe into a deadly crash on MD 24 in Bel Air. The end of the investigation comes less than five months after the double fatal collision.

In the crash, a tractor-trailer going south on Route 24 slammed into multiple vehicles stopped at the Ring Factory Road intersection. In the months since the deadly March 11 collision, police have interviewed witnesses, evaluated evidence and compiled the findings into a report now under review by the Harford County State's Attorney's Office.

At the time of the crash, police said the ShopRite tractor-trailer drove into traffic "for unknown reasons" without stopping or slowing down.

When the tractor-trailer came to a stop at Ring Factory Road around 7 a.m. after hitting multiple vehicles, it caught fire and so did two cars pinned underneath it.

Two people died — a businessman from Forest Hill and a second-grader from Joppa.

Andrew Klein, 65, philanthropist and owner of Klein's ShopRite, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Police said his vehicle was one of the two caught under the tractor-trailer, which had been carrying ShopRite merchandise.

Tripp Johnson, 7, a student at William Paca/Old Post Elementary known for being happy and fun-loving, died at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. Johnson and his mother were in one of the nine cars hit in the crash that did not catch fire, according to police.

A total of 12 vehicles were involved in the collision, police said at the time.

Maryland State Police said the investigation had concluded Tuesday but did not release the cause.

Currently, the Harford County State's Attorney is reviewing the case and "will make any final determination on possible charges," Maryland State Police spokesman Ron Snyder said in a statement Tuesday, July 30.

Harford County State's Attorney Al Peisinger did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Bel Air Patch. Peisinger told The Aegis that his office had been "sifting through hundreds" of pages about the crash since receiving the case file Monday, July 22.

"Clearly there was negligence," Peisinger said, but he told The Aegis that his office would need to determine whether it rose to the level of criminal negligence, a process he said would take at least until late August.

To be considered criminally negligent in vehicular manslaughter cases in Maryland, people do not perceive their conduct creates a substantial and unjustifiable risk, in a "gross deviation from the standard of care that would be exercised by a reasonable person."

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