Fatal Intoxicated Driving Crash Prompts Prison Time For Glen Burnie Eatery Owner: Report

GLEN BURNIE, MD — A Glen Burnie pizza shop owner was sentenced to 20 years in prison after an intoxicated driving crash that killed a veteran, officials announced Tuesday.

Authorities identified the accused man as 38-year-old Guarav “Sonny” Rawal and the victim as 37-year-old Anthony Jean-Louis. The victim was a retired cryptologic network warfare specialist in the Army Reserve and the Army from May 2001 to November 2016.

Rawal on Dec. 16, 2021 pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter and failing to remain at the scene of a collision, a press release said.

"Mr. Jean-Louis was senselessly killed by an out of control driver and his family has suffered from this unimaginable event,” Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in the release.

The Glen Burnie wreck happened on Feb. 8, 2021 on southbound Maryland Route 10. Officials said the driver had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12, which is above the legal limit of 0.08.

Authorities also accused Rawal of rear-ending the victim's white Jeep while he was using the Snapchat mobile application and driving 110 mph.

The victim lost control of his car, which overturned and hit the guardrail on the ride side of the road. Medics pronounced Jean-Louis dead on the scene, the release said.

Officials said the driver left his black Mercedes-Benz, which sustained extensive front-end damage. The Anne Arundel County Police Department searched the area and found Rawal nearby trying to pay multiple people for a ride home.

Authorities said Rawal had blood, dirt and mud on his clothes. Officers also noticed that he had small pieces of glass on his clothes, face and beard.

Rawal told police officers that he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk, but the driver's injuries were similar to those expected of somebody in a serious crash. The release said DNA testing later suggested that Rawal was the driver of the Mercedes.

Police smelled alcohol coming from the Glen Burnie man, officials said. Officers took him to the station for the breathalyzer test.

Authorities said Rawal was sentenced as a repeat offender because of two previous cases of driving while impaired in 2012 and 2018.

Those cases led the courts to prohibit Rawal from driving cars without an ignition interlock device, which requires the driver to pass a breathalyzer test before starting the vehicle. The Mercedes did not have an ignition interlock device, the release said.

“The defendant’s reckless disregard for others is evident by his actions throughout this crime from the level of intoxication, to the excessive speeding, to the use of his cell phone and then leaving the scene of a fatal crash," the state's attorney said. "The most appropriate sentence for this defendant is his removal from our community to protect others.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas prosecuted this case, and Judge Michael Wachs presided over it.

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