4 in stolen car flee attempted traffic stop, die in fiery Maryland crash, police say

MITCHELLVILLE, Md. (AP) — Four people in a stolen SUV died in a fiery crash in Maryland after the driver fled from an attempted traffic stop and later crashed into a tree, police said Sunday.

Officers were working to identify the victims, whose ages and genders were not yet known because of the extent of their burn injuries, the Prince George’s County Police department said in a news release that offered new details about the Friday crash in Mitchellville.

According to police, officers attempted a traffic stop on a Kia Sorento with expired temporary tags around 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“Officers briefly attempted to pursue the Kia but lost sight of the vehicle and disengaged,” the news release said.

About four minutes later, according to an “independent witness,” police said the driver of the Kia used the shoulder of a roadway to attempt a pass, lost control and hit the tree.

The Maryland attorney general’s office determined the incident did not meet the parameters of an officer-involved fatality, according to the news release. The crash site was over 2 miles (3 km) from the attempted traffic stop.

Investigators would later determine the vehicle involved had been taken in an armed carjacking earlier in the city of Greenbelt, the news release said.