Maryland state troopers arrested a 30-year-old Prince George’s man in Capitol Heights on Wednesday morning after he led police on a chase that lasted more than an hour and went through three counties and the District of Columbia.
The pursuit ended when Terrance Anthony Brooks, of the 11400 block of Waesche Drive, Mitchellville, crashed into a pole on Central Avenue in Capitol Heights at 6:30 a.m. and was arrested. First Sgt. Russell Newell said nobody was hurt during the incident.
Newell said Brooks will face charges including first-degree assault on police officers, malicious destruction of property, reckless driving, fleeing and eluding, and driving with a suspended license.
According to Newell, Baltimore County Police began pursuing Brooks on the Baltimore Beltway after determining the license plate on the tan 1994 Chrysler he was driving was stolen.
Newell said a state trooper joined the pursuit in Howard County on Interstate 95, and Baltimore County police and the trooper followed Brooks onto the Capital Beltway and then onto the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. On the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Baltimore County police ended their pursuit, Newell said, “because they were out of radio range of their department.”
The state trooper continued the chase to the Washington border. At this point, Newell said, a Maryland State Police helicopter was also following Brooks.
“Once [Brooks] entered D.C. there were no police cars at all,” Newell said. “All he had to do was pull over and stop.”
When Brooks returned to Maryland, near FedEx Field in Prince George’s County, three other state troopers attempted to pull him over, Newell said.
Before police arrested him, Brooks rammed two police cars, drove onto a sidewalk and then crashed into the pole.
“It was not a very high-speed pursuit,” Newell said.
Newell said it appeared another car may have been hit in the pursuit, but he didn’t have all the details. “The person that was involved in this crash should not have been so close to the police pursuit,” Newell said, adding that he doesn’t know if the driver will face charges.
