The sole surviving passenger of a crash that killed three young people in Olney said the driver had been drinking and was speeding when the car slammed into a tree early Sunday morning, a top prosecutor said.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Monday that Kevin Coffay and his four passengers had been to two parties on Saturday night before the fatal wreck that killed three passengers and sent the fourth to the hospital.
Coffay, a 2009 graduate of Magruder High School, appeared via video hookup Monday at a detention hearing at Montgomery County District Court in Rockville. After posting $50,000, Coffey will be allowed to serve home detention, only being let out to attend school or make court appearances.
Coffay was driving a 2007 Toyota Corolla when it crashed about 3:11 a.m. Sunday after veering off Olney Laytonsville Road, said Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County police.
Spencer Datt, 18, of Derwood, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. Haeley N. McGuire, 18, of Rockville, and John Hoover, 20, also of Rockville, were both seated in the backseat and pronounced dead at local hospitals.
Another passenger, Charles Anthony Nardella, 19, of Gaithersburg, was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Coffay fled the scene before emergency crews arrived, Starks said. Coffay was apprehended three hours later by police and transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.
He is facing several felony charges, including failing to remain at the scene of an accident, not rendering assistant to an injured person, and attempting to elude police by foot.
