Maryland Drag Race Crash Kills 8 Fans

Car Collides With Crowd Watching Illegal Race On Suburban Road; Passenger Is Killed

(AP)  A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch a drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing eight people and injuring at least five, police said.

Seven people died at the scene. Police say the eighth died at a hospital.

A witness said two cars in the illegal street race sped past just before a car without its lights on came up behind the crowd of about 50.

"There were just bodies everywhere; it was horrible," said Crystal Gaines, 27, whose father was among the dead.

Gaines said she grabbed her child but could not help her father, William Gaines Sr., 61.

"He wasn't breathing, he wasn't moving," she said. "His body was in pieces."

A white sedan hit people standing on the side of Route 210 around 3:40 a.m., Prince George's County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said, but it was not clear whether that was one of the cars involved in the race. A tractor-trailer that came by shortly afterward may also have struck someone on the road as it tried to avoid the crash, he said.

"It's probably one of the worst scenes I've seen," Copeland said. "This is a situation that could have been avoided, and it's a very tragic situation."

Residents who live near the Maryland highway where eight street-racing fans were killed have long complained about reckless driving and street racing, a local community leader said Sunday.

Street racing has been a known problem for 20 or more years on the highway, also known as Route 210, said Stan Fetter, president of the Indian Head Highway Area Action Council.

The council also discussed the problem of reckless driving with Melvin High, Prince George's County's police chief, Fetter said.

Prince George's County police released the names of six victims Sunday. They are Mark Courtney, 33, of Leonardtown; Daryl Wills, 38, of Clinton; Maycol Lopez, 20, of Gaithersburg; Blaine Briscoe, 49, of La Plata; William Gaines, 61, of Nanjemoy; and Craig Simms, 37, also of Nanjemoy.

The identities of the other two have not yet been confirmed, Cpl. Arvel Lewis said. Two of the injured are in serious condition, but Lewis said he did not have updates on the others.

Police are still hoping to interview more witnesses and are urging anyone who was at the scene to come forward. But they are not actively looking for the drivers who were taking part in the illegal race because they were not directly involved in the crash, Lewis said.

"I'm sorry this had to happen -- for somebody to be driving a car so fast and not think to hit the brakes," Gaines said.

Hours after the accident on the divided highway in Accokeek, bodies covered in white sheets were scattered along what police were calling a 200-yard crime scene. Some were in the road, while others were on the shoulder.

The sedan came to a rest on an embankment about 150 feet from where the crowd had been. It had a crumpled front and hood, and the roof had partially collapsed.

The driver of the white sedan had been interviewed and did not appear to be seriously hurt, but a passenger was among the dead, Police Capt. Donald Frick said.

Authorities were working to identify the victims by showing digital photos of them to bystanders who said loved ones had been hurt. John Courtney said after viewing one of the images that his brother, Mark, 33, was among the dead.

"He liked going to the race track, watching races," Courtney said. "It's going to take a toll on my family for a long time."

Investigators had "more questions than answers," Copeland said.

Route 210 has two lanes in each direction and traffic lights about every 150 to 200 yards in Accokeek, about 20 miles south of Washington. In that area, the road is flanked by some businesses but has little traffic in the early hours, Copeland said.

Frick said it's common in the summer for police to deal with reports of motorcycles racing on the highway, which is relatively smooth with long straightaways, but he said they have not had as much of an issue with cars.

Marion Neal feared her brother also was among the dead and was awaiting images from the police.

It's a tragedy," she said. "I don't like racing, but that was his hobby."

[rhs648]

Cops kill over 500 people every year in USA, during high speed chases for traffic tickets, including killing 1/3rd innocent bystanders:
http://www.aaafoundation.or
g/pdf/policepursuit.cfm

Posted by piratenews

The police are damned when they do and damned when they don''t. If a driver in a stolen cars kills someone, we argue that the police should have stopped the driver. When the police chase a car and someone gets killed, we throw stones at the police. Some propositions are losing propositions no matter what you do. That is why some communities allow police chases and others don''t.

[rhs648]

When I was young, my mother would tell me not to call her if I got into trouble with the law. I told the same to my children. Our town had a curfew prohibiting people under sixteen from being out after eleven at night. I told my children not to call me if the police picked them up. Needless to say, they were in the house before eleven and I knew where they were. That is parenting. In this case, you had three generations of at least one family watching an illegal race at three in the morning. Is this good parenting? Three generations who don''t find anything wrong with an illegal activity.

[bicycle1977]

God does not "thin out the herd" - first, we are not animals, but, humans, created in the image of God, who have been given the Divine privilege of being able to decide and know right from wrong.

It is not God''s Will for anyone to die a careless death - true, we all do die, in one way or another, but, in a case like this, as an attorney friend told me last night, this type of death is considered (in the insurance industry) in the same category as suicide, since it is usually done willfully, as a conscious decision or act of the person or persons involved (and as mentioned here yesterday, is probably why, as my attorney friend also agreed, those who perished, who have a life insurance policy for their family members, very possible have made that policy null and void because the circumstances associated with their death was linked to illegal activity).

What''s even worse is that there were adults who willfully brought their children to this activity - all the more are they responsible for what their own children must now suffer through...

As any person knows who believes in God - God never wants anyone to live or die that way, but, even in this case, God does always bring good out of everything, so, hopefully some will turn away from a irrational desire for speed that has brought them to live this type of dangerous and illegal lifestyle.

[craigh9]

Illegal street racing going on for years???????? Where are the police and why hasn''t the police chief been fired already????

[piratenewsdotorg]

Here''s hi-res photo of the front of the white Crown Vic, which makes it appear to be an undercover cop car:
http://www.smokymountainriders.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14956

Cops kill over 500 people every year in USA, during high speed chases for traffic tickets, including killing 1/3rd innocent bystanders:
http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/policepursuit.cfm

[instntfool]

well make no mistake any people standing in the road were extremely stupid period, and the totally worthless cops especially in his area are even bigger morons, even better the judges are even worse and for the record the rest of the government agencies are just as useless, so just keep waiting for them to make sense of this, or to get dumb ***** not do dumb things: we may as well all go stand in the middle of the beltway. Please dont be fooled for a minute they will make this play out ANY way they want and that includes lying in court under oath IVE SEEN IT!

[instntfool]

its not a crazy trajedy its just pure stupidity if you stand in the middle of a highway you stand a real chance of getting run the F over! were they born yesterday, gee I was taught by three to stay out of the road Hell my dog even knows better. and as far as the 15 year old mom she should be charged with neglect and possibly endagerment it was 3:00 AM when ALL 15 year olds should be home in bed bet thats a tough lesson for her although clearly the lack of parenting indicates they didnt give a *** anyways

[instntfool]

The media (as usual) has made me sick if they want to see what a drag racer is come to the track!!! we race at many local tracks (capitol is home) while they can be a pain sometimes they are very good at keeping it SAFE and its a great time and no one gets hurt there havent been seven people killed there in 20 years of racing.

[instntfool]

Hey winstrv AMEN!!!! No one especially the media realises that they are NOT!!! Drag racers drag racers do their racing on a real track like capitol or MIR with rules guard rails and some safety people around to prevent this *** this is just one more instance of one sided media coverage, umm lets see 3:00 in the morning... yeah all the racers I know are out on the streets at that time. any real racer is in bed getting ready for a REAL race DAY (yeah I said DAY!)not out on our streets in the middle of the night where somone with a family might just be trying to get home to their family

[rhs648]

This is an awful tragedy, but I can''''t see any blame on the LTD driver. The picture of the car in my newspaper shows all the headlights broken on the LTD, besides I think these racing morons are looking for someone else to blame for their own stupidity.

Posted by thgdriver

Hi thgdriver - It seems like some posters are trying to blame the driver of the Crown Victoria and not the racers or people standing in the road. This tragedy must have happened very quickly and caused a lot of pandemonium. Many witnesses probably didn''t know what was happening, especiaaly if they were hit from behind. It will probably take days for the police to wrap-up their investigation.