BALTIMORE, Md. — A 17-year-old driver trying to elude a marked police car drives into the path of traffic Saturday night on Liberty Heights Avenue.
“It started from here, and the kid shot out here straight out in the Liberty Heights area and got smacked on one side, and the other one smacked… two other cars smacked,” said Corey Jenkins who lives nearby, “He just shot straight out here. Straight out.”
It is not yet clear why police elected to follow Kweli Murphy Al-Mateen, but his decision to cross Liberty Heights Avenue ultimately cost him his life.
A lot of other questions still remain, like how long the pursuit may have lasted or whether it involved a high rate of speed.
RELATED: A multi-vehicle crash on Liberty Heights Avenue leaves one person dead
“Paramedics came over and touched him on his neck, and things like that,” said Jenkins, “They said they still took him out of the car and tried to save him, but I was told from what they said that one side of his body was this way and he was leaning like this. I couldn’t imagine seeing it. I wouldn’t want to see it.”
Whether the police officers’ decision to follow Al-Mateen played any role in his death, will now be a question for the Maryland Attorney General’s Office to answer.
The involved officers were identified as 10-year department veteran Cesar Gonzalez, and Cierra Thurmond, who has two-years on the force.
“There were a lot of people out here. They were saying the chasing part… police… they aren’t supposed to be doing that really,” said Jenkins, “A lot of people were upset about that. They were outraged saying like, ‘Why are they chasing? You can’t do things like that.’”
If you have any information about the crash, which could help investigators, you’re asked to call 410-576-7070.
