MARYLAND

Pedestrian in Ocean City dies after being hit by trooper during Cruisin' weekend

The Daily Times

More than 1,500 cars, trucks, classic cars and hot rods line the Inlet parking lot in Ocean City Saturday for Endless Summer Cruisin'.

A Maryland state trooper hit and killed a pedestrian in Ocean City on Friday night, police say.

This is the second law-enforcement officer to strike a pedestrian in the resort town in two weekends. During both weekends, law enforcement stepped up its presence for vehicle shows. This weekend is the Endless Summer Cruisin' event, which features more than 2,000 hot rods, custom and classic vehicles and trick trucks on display.

At about 11:30 p.m. Friday, Master Trooper James Price, a 17-year veteran of the state police, was on duty driving north on Coastal Highway at 76th Street in the middle lane of the three lane highway, according to a Maryland State Police release.

For reasons unknown as of early Saturday, a pedestrian reportedly darted into oncoming traffic, directly into the path of Price's marked Ford Explorer, police said.

Price tried to avoid a collision, but was unable to avoid striking the pedestrian, police said. Emergency medical services responded and transported the man by ambulance to Atlantic General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The trooper, who is assigned to the Princess Anne Barrack but was in Ocean City to assist with road patrol for Endless Summer Cruisin', was not injured in the crash, according to the release. He has been placed on administrative leave, which is routine whenever a trooper is involved in a departmental incident, police said.

MORE ON CRUISIN: Ocean City prepares for car enthusiasts once again with Endless Summer Cruisin'

On Friday, Sept. 29, an Ocean City police cruiser also hit a pedestrian while turning left from 56th Street during a green light. The pedestrian, a 26-year-old Connecticut man, was in the crosswalk and stuck by the marked Chevrolet Tahoe. He was released from the hospital the following day.

The weekend's unsanctioned H2Oi event drew huge numbers to Ocean City.

Car enthusiasts had shown up to Ocean City in droves for the H2O International car show. The event was canceled shortly before it was to be held, but that didn't deter the enthusiasts for heavily modified Volkswagens and Audis from coming to the unsanctioned show.

Law enforcement flooded the area and conducted more than 1,200 traffic stops and made 78 arrests from Sept. 29-Oct. 1, including one that ended with charges of attempted first- and second-degree murder in a case that police said endangered the lives of two law enforcement officers.

In the 76th Street incident, the Maryland State Police CRASH Team was on the scene and conducting the investigation. Upon completion, the investigation will be presented to the State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo said Price did not have his emergency lights activated at the time of the collision, but those types of details still remain part of the ongoing investigation.

Officers from the Ocean City Police Department responded to assist, along with Ocean City Fire Department and EMS personnel. Traffic was taken down to one lane of Coastal Highway at 76th Street during the investigation.

" We still do not have the identity of the victim, unfortunately, at this time," Russo said Saturday afternoon.

At the time of the accident, she said the victim did not have any identification with them and investigators are still unsure whether the individual may have been a local or someone visiting Ocean City for the weekend.

"That's all part of the investigation at this point," she said.

Though they are unrelated to Ocean City's unsanctioned H2Oi gatherings, the city's Cruisin' events have seen a few issues in the past, including two deaths during a May 2016 event.

During Cruisin' Ocean City that year, a 24-year-old Germantown man died after he crashed his motorcycle into a pickup truck while fleeing a traffic stop, according to police, and a 29-year-old Pennsylvania man was killed by a fall from a hotel balcony.

The 2015 Cruisin' Ocean City event also saw a Millersville man charged with six traffic violations after a video surfaced of him doing doughnuts in the middle of the highway, police said.

The Friday night incident on Coastal Highway isn't Ocean City's first fatal traffic accident this year. In late August, a Slovakian woman in Ocean City on a J-1 student visa was killed in a hit-and-run accident while she was riding her bicycle.

Veronika Badurova, 21, was struck near Second Street by an SUV while riding her bike down Philadelphia Avenue at about 3 a.m. on Aug. 30, police said. She was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, where she died Sept. 1.

Police said the driver of the SUV did not stop after hitting Badurova and was later identified as Brooks T. Bratten, 38, of Snow Hill.

He has been charged with two counts of failure to remain at the scene of a fatal traffic collision, two counts of failure to remain at the scene of a traffic collision causing bodily injury, failing to render aid following a traffic collision and negligent driving.

Another pedestrian died after he was struck on Coastal Highway in May. James R. Ednie, 23, of Pennsylvania was crossing Coastal Highway at 45th Street, not in the crosswalk, when he was hit by a car driven by 50-year-old Stanley J. Faison of Waldorf.

Ednie was taken to Atlantic General Hospital where police said he was pronounced dead. Faison has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and multiple other traffic-related charges in connection with Ednie's death.

An annual report released by Ocean City police in February shows the city has had 155 accidents involving pedestrians from 2011 to 2016, with three fatalities. Two fatalities occurred in 2012 and one in 2016.

Construction is starting this month on a median fence along a portion of Coastal highway to protect both drivers and pedestrians. The $7 million project, which should be finished by May 2018, will include fence installment between 62nd Street and Convention Center Drive and roadway lighting installation along that same stretch.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident at 76th Street is asked to call the Berlin Barrack at 410-641-3101.