Teen Driver Intentionally Hits Officer on 270 - October 18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

Well, he was in a car, so its basically allowed. 40,000+ get killed by cars every year, and if you punished them all appropriately then the jails would be overflowing.

Killed “by cars”?

WTF? Are the cars driving themselves around doing all this killing?

No. They weren’t killed by cars. They were killed by drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Tampa, a speeding teen is serving 24 yrs for killing a mom and her child who was in a stroller. There should be stiff consequences for speeding and injuring, maiming, or killing innocent victims. If the argument is that the young teen's brain hasn't fully developed, then don't give that teen a fast car.
https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/cameron-herrin-denied-sentence-reduction-for-deadly-bayshore-crash/

Exactly. Kids should wait until 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you drive 136 mph on a busy public highway (which he was arrested for previously) it should be treated the same from a legal standpoint as indiscriminately firing a gun in public place like a shopping mall. This piece of sh*t should have been in prison a long time ago for his recklessness.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The driving is nuts after pandemic. Millennials who drive 70 thousand dollar pickups are the worst offenders IMHO. Prayers for this officer. This is a life altering event.

The pandemic broke the social contract. Everyone thinks they are their own little island. I see people pulling U turns in the middle of very busy intersections and on hills with no visibility. And don’t get me started on ppl not using blinkers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope he serves the full 25 years and never drives again. I hope this officer sues the bejesus out of the family, who allowed this to happen.

He was 19, legally an adult, driving a car that he owned. How does the family have legal responsibility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

“What we’re angry about is that in this state, a 19 year old can turn a 4200 pound vehicle into a guided missile and on 10/18/23, he took that missile, endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop and what he got was a 4200 hundred pound missile aimed at him on 270," Francke said.

4200 pounds of car going at a high speed isn’t going to MAIM. It’s going to KILL.

This was the wrong call. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

“What we’re angry about is that in this state, a 19 year old can turn a 4200 pound vehicle into a guided missile and on 10/18/23, he took that missile, endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop and what he got was a 4200 hundred pound missile aimed at him on 270," Francke said.

4200 pounds of car going at a high speed isn’t going to MAIM. It’s going to KILL.

This was the wrong call. Period.

Surprised he was charged at all being under the age of 26. He's practically incapable of making an informed decisions (with the exception of voting.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

“What we’re angry about is that in this state, a 19 year old can turn a 4200 pound vehicle into a guided missile and on 10/18/23, he took that missile, endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop and what he got was a 4200 hundred pound missile aimed at him on 270," Francke said.

4200 pounds of car going at a high speed isn’t going to MAIM. It’s going to KILL.

This was the wrong call. Period.

I wish the media had covered the trial. I would love to understand how a jury arrived at this decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

“What we’re angry about is that in this state, a 19 year old can turn a 4200 pound vehicle into a guided missile and on 10/18/23, he took that missile, endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop and what he got was a 4200 hundred pound missile aimed at him on 270," Francke said.

4200 pounds of car going at a high speed isn’t going to MAIM. It’s going to KILL.

This was the wrong call. Period.

I wish the media had covered the trial. I would love to understand how a jury arrived at this decision.

I can't speak to this case, but I was once a juror on a trial in Rockville where the prosecutors were awful and the public defender was absolutely amazing. Two people had the same unique criminal acts committed against them, and as jurors, we only convicted on the least serious charge -- just too many holes in the victims' testimony, strange presentation of evidence, and other issues. Quality of lawyering makes a huge difference. As jurors, we were actually very frustrated by the entire thing, and our deliberations ran for nearly three days trying to make sense of the mess of evidence that the prosecutors presented to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was acquitted of attempted murder charges.

I can almost see that. But I can't understand why he was squirted on first degree assault. If running the officer down and leaving him a double amputee isn't first degree assault, I don't know what is.

He wasn't trying to kill him, just maim him.

“What we’re angry about is that in this state, a 19 year old can turn a 4200 pound vehicle into a guided missile and on 10/18/23, he took that missile, endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop and what he got was a 4200 hundred pound missile aimed at him on 270," Francke said.

4200 pounds of car going at a high speed isn’t going to MAIM. It’s going to KILL.

This was the wrong call. Period.

I wish the media had covered the trial. I would love to understand how a jury arrived at this decision.

I can't speak to this case, but I was once a juror on a trial in Rockville where the prosecutors were awful and the public defender was absolutely amazing. Two people had the same unique criminal acts committed against them, and as jurors, we only convicted on the least serious charge -- just too many holes in the victims' testimony, strange presentation of evidence, and other issues. Quality of lawyering makes a huge difference. As jurors, we were actually very frustrated by the entire thing, and our deliberations ran for nearly three days trying to make sense of the mess of evidence that the prosecutors presented to us.

Interesting. Thanks for this perspective. I know the prosecutor in this case and she's extremely good. I know there was mention of not being allowed to enter certain evidence that showed intent, though. I will say, as a lawyer, I still don't think there was enough to convict on attempted murder, even with the excluded evidence mentioned in the media.

But the lack of conviction on first degree assault is stunning. However, ideally our system exonerates people if the state cannot prove its case. The old adage says it's better to let 10 guilty men go free than to imprison one innocent man, and all that. So in that respect your jury and possibly this one, did the right thing.

[Anonymous]

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2025/08/man-who-hit-montgomery-co-officer-causing-him-to-lose-both-legs-set-to-be-sentenced/

Man who hit Montgomery Co. officer, causing him to lose both legs, set to be sentenced

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just look at the topics on this forum compared to a few years ago, if that doesn't show the decline of this area...........

Yup. Too many MAGAs polluting DCUM
these days.

[Anonymous]

The teen avoided "stop sticks" and hit the policeman. He may get life in prison.

The police are told not to chase speeders because innocent people get hurt. They can't even shoot out the speeders tires. They should have ignored him.

[Anonymous]

I just heard he got 22 years and 60 days. Oh, they are going to love that white meat at the big house.