Off-Duty Cop Involved in Triple-Fatality Crash Indicted for Road Rage: ICYMI

An off-duty Takoma Park police officer involved in a March Annapolis car accident that killed three people has been indicted by a Prince George’s County grand jury for a July 2014 road rage case.

WTOP reports Travis M. Ala, 28, of Anne Arundel County, faces charges of first- and second-degree assault and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

Ala was allegedly driving on Route 50 in Bowie on July 6, 2014, when he encountered a slow-moving car in the lefthand lane. Prosecutors say the angry off-duty officer swerved around the vehicle, pulled in front of it and hit his brakes.

As Ala tried to pass, a witness in the other vehicle says the officer pointed a handgun at the car. The victims reportedly began taking pictures of Ala until he drove away. They gave Ala’s license plate number to police, who traced the vehicle to him.

Ala has been on administrative leave since a March 2015 accident that killed a father, his teenage daughter, and her friend. Maryland State Police are still investigating Authorities said Ala reportedly didn’t see stopped traffic in time to avoid causing the crash that killed three people.

The victims are Raymond Badders, 63, of Manchester, his daughter, Susannah Badders, 19, of Manchester, and her friend, Jason Simpkins, 19, of Ellicott City, according to Maryland State Police.

The crash occurred on eastbound Route 50 at the Route 665 overpass. Authorities say Ala, who suffered minor injuries, was driving a 2011 Nissan X-Terra registered to the Takoma Park Police Department.