Maryland attorney general investigating fatal pedestrian crash after attempted traffic stop by Baltimore Police
The Maryland attorney general’s office is investigating a failed traffic stop by Baltimore Police that left a 54-year-old man dead, five car passengers injured and a building partially collapsed Wednesday night.
The attorney general’s office said a Baltimore Police Eastern District officer in an unmarked vehicle saw a black Hyundai Sonata that was reported stolen driving in the area. Officer Devin Yancy responded to the area in a marked police car and attempted a traffic stop around North Patterson Park Avenue and East North Avenue, but the Hyundai failed to stop, the attorney general’s office said.
Officers followed the Hyundai to the area of Sinclair Lane and North Wolfe Street, where it continued to flee, the attorney general’s office said. The Hyundai entered the intersection of North Wolfe Street and East North at the border of the Broadway East and South Clifton Park neighborhoods where it collided with a sedan, the attorney general’s office said. Both the Hyundai and the sedan struck a pedestrian who was standing on the sidewalk before crashing into a vacant rowhouse, the attorney general’s office said.
The pedestrian, 54-year-old Alfred Fincher of Baltimore, was pronounced dead on the scene. Five people who were in the vehicles were injured and later released from hospitals. Two were in the 2017 Hyundai Sonata, which police said was stolen, and three were in a 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse that was struck by the Sonata.
The driver of the Sonata, 33-year-old Shawn Lee Brunson, has been arrested and charged with auto theft, and future charges are pending, police said, adding that the vehicle was stolen Tuesday.
Nuquanna Zimmerman, the daughter of a woman in the vehicle that was struck, said her mother, Nina Subber, was in surgery Thursday and had broken both ankles and fractured a knee. The other two passengers, her aunt and a cousin, also were injured. They suffered minor injuries and were discharged from the hospital the next day, Zimmerman said.
The attorney general’s office is reviewing the death under a state law that went into effect in 2021 that requires it to investigate all police-involved deaths in Maryland.
Baltimore officers are prohibited from pursuing a car if there is a “crime against property,” including auto theft or a minor traffic offense.
Public safety, familiarity with the area and whether the suspect’s identity is known are some of the factors that are supposed to go into the decision to chase a vehicle.
Although Baltimore Police cruisers are not equipped with dashboard cameras, the officers were wearing body-worn cameras, footage from which is typically released within 14 days of an incident.
However, there may be situations in which more than 14 days are necessary, including needing more time to complete witness interviews and delays caused by the need to shield the identities of witnesses or to allow family members to view the video before it is released.
Since the attorney general’s office just picked up the investigation, it is unclear whether there will be any delays. In addition, the attorney general’s office is still investigating how many officers were involved.
