Speed, booze and drugs blamed for fatal crash into rear of truck on Bay Bridge
From The Chesapeake Today:
Driver:
Tobin Joseph Dixon, 20, Sudlersville MD
Maryland Court records reflect no prior citations or criminal arrests. Maryland Transportation Authority Police Spokesman First Sgt. Jonathan Green identified Dixon as the driver in the crash on the Bay Bridge on April 2, 2016, that killed Randy Drake Thrower when the vehicle that Dixon was driving slammed into the rear of a truck that was operating in the same direction on the eastbound span. “Alcohol, drugs and speed are considered factors in the crash,” reports Green.
Front Passenger:
Randy Drake Thrower, 21, Queenstown MD (Deceased)
Rear Passenger – Driver’s Side:
Aimee Lynne Craig, 21, Millington MD
Cited on March 24, 2015, by a Maryland State Trooper traveling at 70 mph in a 55 mph zone on Rt. 301 south of the Welcome Center and paid a $90 fine.
Cited on Nov. 7, 2014, at 7:23 am for traveling at 75 mph in a 55 mph zone on Rt. 301 by Maryland State Trooper Q. Bekken; paid a $160 fine.
Cited by Maryland Transportation Authority Police Officer V. Edwards for failing to control speed to avoid a collision while operating a 2014 Chevrolet on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Aug. 11, 2014. On Dec. 30, 2014, Craig entered a guilty plea in Anne Arundel County District Court and was fined $102.50.
Cited by Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Deputy Parks on May 29, 2014, at 5:54 pm for operating a 2014 Chevrolet southbound on Rt. 213 at Rt. 309 at a speed of 72 mph in a 55 mph zone; she paid a fine of $17.50 in a plea deal with the Queen Anne’s County States Attorney on Aug. 1, 2014.
Cited by Centreville Police Officer D. Larrimore on Oct. 18, 2013, with failing to provide a driver’s license on demand and in a plea deal with the Queen Anne’s County States Attorney on Jan. 16, 2014 was fined $50.
Rear Passenger – Passenger Side:
Taylor Marie Sprecher, 20, of Banbridge Ave., Centreville MD
Sprecher was cited by Maryland State Trooper S. W. Hoffman on Feb. 21, 2016 at 2:06 am, for traveling eastbound on Rt. 50 east of the Kent Narrows Bridge at 67 mph in a 55 mph zone in a 2014 Mazda; DUI, driving vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; driving with alcohol in her blood in violation of restriction; doing a forbidden act, failing to perform required act pertaining to driver’s license; Trial date for these charges are set for May 16, 2016, in Queen Anne’s County District Court. Attorney William A. Stavros of Towson, Md., has filed in court records to represent Sprecher in this trial.
Sprecher was cited by Maryland State Trooper D. A. Pope for driving while using a cell phone on Rt. 301 on Dec. 15, 2015. In a plea deal in Queen Anne’s County District Court, she entered a plea of guilty and was fined $83.
Sprecher was cited by Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason R. Rickard for possession of a false ID under 21 on March 30, 2014, and Queen Anne’s County States Attorney Lance Richardson put the charge on the Stet Docket on June 11, 2014.
Sprecher was cited for speeding while southbound on Rt. 301 on July 6, 2015, by Maryland State Trooper Shane Mitchell; doing 71 mph in a 55 mph zone. In a plea deal on Sept. 11, 2015, with Queen Anne’s States Attorney Lance Richardson, she entered a guilty plea and paid a $55 fine.
Sprecher was cited on Oct. 22, 2013, with speeding at 76 mph in a 55 mph zone while northbound in a 2013 Kia on Rt. 301 at Rt. 313 by Maryland State Trooper K. R. Morrison. In a plea deal with Kent County States Attorney on Dec. 20, 2013, she entered a plea of guilty in return for Probation Before Judgement and paid a fine of $160.
Sprecher was cited numerous times for not displaying a driver’s permit to police officers.
UPDATE: Maryland Transportation Authority Police reports that charges are pending in this crash that took the life of Randy Drake Thrower, indicating that police have determined he was not driving the sedan that slammed into the back of a truck on the Bay Bridge on April 2, 2016. Those adults who accept a ride with an impaired driver simply buy a ticket to their own funeral. This is yet another case of a group of adults taking their party on the road without any regard for the lives of others or, for that matter, for their own lives. This crash was NOT an accident but a predictable outcome of choices made by adults. First Sgt. Jonathan Green of the Maryland Transportation Police reports that the names of those persons in the sedan will not be released until they have all been interviewed, as they are considered witnesses. The two occupants of the sedan who were taken by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center were released after treatment. OBITUARY
Stevensville, Md. – Maryland Transportation Authority Police reports that a twenty-one-year-old Queenstown, Md., man was killed when a sedan in which he was either the driver or a passenger crashed into the rear a truck on the eastbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, just after the magic 2:00 am killing hour of bar closings in the Annapolis area. Annapolis is located on the Western Shore of the Bay while Randy Drake Thrower, 21, is from the Eastern Shore, the direction in which the fatal crash occurred.
A police spokesman said that drugs, alcohol ,and speed were all factors in the crash, which fortunately did not injure the driver of the truck — only the party crowd in the sedan.
Thrower was charged with two counts of driving while his license was suspended on Aug. 7, 2015, by Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Deputy Martz while operating a 2009 Mustang while southbound on Rt. 301 at Del Rhodes Ave. in Queenstown, Md. Queen Anne’s County States Attorney Lance Richardson dropped both of the charges on Oct. 8, 2015.
Maryland State Police Trooper Landis charged with Thrower with multiple counts of driving while suspended and speeding at more than twenty mph over the limit on July 2, 2015, while southbound on Rt. 10 at Furnace Branch Road in Anne Arundel County, Md. Anne Arundel County States Attorney Wes Adams dropped all of the charges on Sept. 18, 2015.
Thrower was ticketed for speeding on Rt. 405 west of Rt. 301 on Oct. 22, 2013, by a Maryland trooper and he entered a guilty plea in Queen Anne’s County District Court on March 14, 2014, and was fined $90.
A speeding ticket on July 8, 2013, awarded to Thrower on Rt. 301 for traveling at 74 mph in a 55 mph zone resulted in a fine of $90 in Queen Anne’s County District Court.
On June 4, 2013, Thrower was cited in Talbot County by Pfc. Merrick for underage possession of alcohol; the charge was fined $195 and put on probation. A drug charge of the same date for less than 10 grams of pot was dropped by Talbot County States Attorney Scott Patterson.
With numerous charges for driving while suspended dropped by prosecutors, Thrower’s luck ran out on Aug. 9, 2012, at 1:15 am when he was cited by Queen Anne’s County Deputy C. Ahern. In District Court for Queen Anne’s County on April 12, 2013, Thrower was found guilty and fined $150.
From The Baltimore Sun:
A 21-year-old man from Queen Anne’s County was killed in a crash on the Bay Bridge early Saturday, police said.
A 2011 Mazda sedan and a 2014 Freightliner box truck collided on the eastbound side of the Bay Bridge in Queen Anne’s County at 2:22 a.m. Saturday, according to 1st Sgt. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority police.
Two men and two women, all over 18, were inside the Mazda, he said.
One of them, Randy Drake Thrower, 21, of Queenstown, was pronounced dead at the scene, Green said. A woman with serious injuries was flown by state police helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. She was in stable condition, Green said.
Two others were driven by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the box truck was not injured. MORE