(Updated) Crash victim identified

Monday, July 27, 2009

A T-bone collision on Route 4 at Apple Way on Friday shortly before 11 a.m. killed a Dunkirk teenager and a Calvert County Sheriff's Office deputy was flown to a Baltimore hospital with life-threatening injuries, the sheriff's office reported.

According to the report, Rachael Alexandra Campbell, 18, of Dunkirk, sustained mortal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene. Deputy Wayne Wells was flown with life-threatening injuries and was listed in critical condition.

Wells received "one fractured vertebrae" and was released from the hospital on Sunday, Col. Thomas Hejl said Monday.

"He's bruised and banged up," Hejl said, and will be on medical leave for quite a while. Wells has a brace from his neck to the middle of his back, Hejl said.

According to Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans, Wells was on his way to a domestic call when a vehicle pulled into his path as he was traveling north on Route 4.

"He was speeding, but he was speeding legally," Evans said of Wells, who he believed was wearing his seatbelt at the time of impact. The crash caused Campbell's 1997 Buick Le Sabre to veer onto the grass and catch fire, totaling both vehicles with no other vehicles or passengers involved.

"He took evasive action, but he couldn't avoid her," Hejl said of the deputy.

The sheriff's office reports that the following was determined during a preliminary investigation: Campbell was traveling south on Route 4 and was in the process making a left turn onto east bound Apple Way into Apple Green Subdivision. This maneuver required her to drive across both north bound lanes of Route 4. Wells was traveling north in the fast lane on Route 4 in his police cruiser with its emergency equipment activated, responding to a priority assignment in the Dunkirk area.

Both vehicles entered the intersection and collided in a T-bone type collision. Wells' cruiser struck the right side of Campbell's vehicle, causing a major intrusion into the passenger compartment between right front and right rear tires. Upon impact, Campbell's vehicle was redirected and sent into a grassy area on the east side of Route 4 and caught fire. The cruiser rolled over and came to rest in the culvert on the east side of Route 4 upside-down, leaving Wells trapped.

Along with the Calvert County Sheriff's Office Crash Reconstruction Team (CRT), due to the nature of the crash, the sheriff's office requested the assistance of the Anne Arundel County Police Department and Maryland State Police to conduct an independent investigation into the events leading up to the crash. If anyone has any further information related to this investigation they should contact Cpl. V. Bortchevsky of CRT at bortchvi@co.cal.md.us or 410-535-2800.

charvat@somdnews.com