Children Badly Hurt in Serious MoCo Crash
Residents say stretch of road is dangerous
NBCWashington.com
Police are investigating why a Ford work truck rear-ended a Volkswagen sedan with four young occupants inside.
A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after a rear-end collision on a stretch of road in Germantown, Md., that residents say is dangerous.
A Volkswagen sedan driven by Shafali Kapoor, 20, was making a left-hand turn onto Morning Star Drive from Ridge Road, when a Ford work truck driven by Robert Kohlhoff, 44, of Elkridge, Md. struck it from behind, police said.
Kapoor and two other passengers, Christine Opiekun, 17, and Michael Opiekun, 15, were taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition. Joseph Opiekun, 12, who was in the back seat, was flown to Children's National Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Kohlhoff remained on the scene and was not taken to the hospital. Police say they're investigating the cause of the accident.
Residents said that there have been at least three serious accidents on Ridge Road in the past nine years. They described the road as dangerous and said that "near-misses" are common.
Several residents said they have been petitioning for a traffic light to be installed at the Morning Star Drive intersection, to no avail.
Posted Thursday, Aug 13, 2009 - 6:15 AM EST
