The driver of the tractor-trailer that struck and killed two Howard County college students at a Jessup intersection where the light was out in January will not be charged criminally, Howard County State?s Attorney Timothy McCrone said Thursday.
Maryland State Police charged Gary L. Dicks, 23, of Stephens City, Va., last week with two traffic citations for negligent driving and failing to stop at a throughway. He faces a $500 fine and no potential for incarceration.
McCrone said Dicks? driving did not rise to the level of the more serious charge of manslaughter by vehicle.
“There was no alcohol involved and there was not gross negligence on the part of the driver,” he said. “The traffic light was out.”
Slightly before 9:30 p.m. Jan. 6, power failed at the traffic light at the intersection of southbound Interstate 95 and westbound Route 175. About an hour and 15 minutes later, with the light still out, a tractor-trailer, driven by Dicks, exiting southbound I-95, struck a Volvo traveling on westbound Route 175.
Scott E. Caplan, 19, of Columbia, and Theresa E. Howard, 18, of Sykesville, who were in the Volvo, were pronounced dead at the scene as a result of the accident.
Wayne Livesay, who was Howard County police chief at the time, said a series of missteps led Howard County police to fail to properly staff and mark with safety devices the nonworking traffic light.
Both a Maryland State Police officer and a Howard County officer responded to the scene of the intersection where the light was out, but left without marking the intersection, Howard County police said. Maryland State Police said they are still investigating the incident.
Livesay changed department policy as a result of the crash and ordered his officers never again to leave the scene of a nonworking traffic light without marking the intersection for motorists.
“It was a tragic, terrible accident,” McCrone said. “But the actions of the driver of the truck simply didn?t rise to the level of wanton disregard for human life.”
McCrone said any suits claiming negligence on the part of the police would have to be civil cases and are not criminal matters that his office could pursue.
