Howard County Police: Officer Hospitalized After Suspected Drunk Driver Crash

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A Howard County police officer is at shock trauma Sunday after an allegedly intoxicated driver hit his patrol car near the Montgomery County line, authorities said.

At 4:25 a.m. Sunday, Pfc. Mike Marino responded to a call on US 29 north near Old Columbia Pike, the Howard County Police Department reported.

Marino, who has been with the Howard County force for nine years, found that a Takoma Park police officer had hit a deer on the Montgomery side of the county line, the report said.

He called for Montgomery police to respond and returned to his patrol car, which had its emergency lights activated, when a 2005 Nissan Murano hit his vehicle, according to the report.

The Howard County officer was taken by ambulance to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was in stable condition Sunday afternoon, police reported.

Charges are pending against the driver of the Nissan—Richar Antiguas, 34, of the 200 block of 8th Street in Laurel—according to Howard County police, who said that alcohol and marijuana were believed to be factors.

Officials said the Montgomery County Police Department was investigating the crash.

According to police, this is the third crash in which a suspected drunk driver has hit a Howard County cruiser in the past month:

• A 31-year-old Temple Hills man was charged with offenses including driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license after allegedly hitting a police car in Laurel. Authorities said that after 10:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6, the man failed to yield while making a left turn onto Washington Boulevard and hit the cruiser’s left front bumper and wheel well, disabling the vehicle.
• A 25-year-old Baltimore woman was charged after police said she hit an unoccupied patrol car on the shoulder of Old Columbia Pike while the officer was conducting a field sobriety test on another person. She hit the unoccupied cruiser, which then rammed into another cruiser parked in front of it at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28. Police said both drivers were arrested for driving under the influence.

In Maryland, there is a Move Over Law that requires motorists to move over one lane when possible to avoid hitting emergency vehicles—including police, fire and tow truck equipment—that have their emergency lights activated.

Related: Move Over Law Expands to Include Tow Trucks

Photo courtesy of the Howard County Police Department.