WESTMINSTER, Md. — A simple flat tire might not have drawn much attention, but when Larry Reid discovered tires on three of his vehicles parked in his driveway had been flattened overnight, he took a closer look.
Upon closer inspection, Reid found the tires had been slashed and the vandal wasn't finished just yet.
"The perpetrator apparently stayed in the general area, came back and slashed the tires of Car Number Four at approximately seven o'clock this morning," said Reid.
Reid called the Maryland State Police to report it, and by the time a trooper arrived a second report of slashed tires from another victim included a description of a suspect said to be carrying a knife.
In a matter of minutes, the trooper spotted a man fitting that description walking along Washington Road at Stoner Avenue in Westminster.
"The trooper got out of his car and approached the suspect. At that time, a struggle ensued and the trooper was stabbed,” said Greg Shipley of the Maryland State Police, “The trooper pulled his weapon, fired at the suspect and struck the suspect. The suspect was taken to the Carroll Hospital Center where he was later pronounced deceased."
With four tires flattened in a single night, and a window wiper ripped off of his wife's vehicle two nights earlier, we asked Reid if he thought the destruction was personal.
"Being a retired police officer, 38 years, you would think possibly that, but I have no idea who he even is," replied Reid.
And the suspect did target another vehicle, seemingly at random, before attacking the trooper his crimes drew to the area.
"He must have just been deranged and stayed in the neighborhood creating havoc, waiting for the right opportunity to choose whatever end that he was looking for,” said Reid, “That's the best I can tell you."
Police have identified the 34-year-old suspect as Michael D’Angelo of Westminster.
The trooper, a six-year veteran of the force assigned to the Westminster Barrack, was taken to the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for treatment. He was released later Monday afternoon. While he recovers he will be placed on administrative leave, as per procedure following a trooper-involved shooting, state police said.
The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit is investigating. The conclusions of their investigation will be submitted to the Carroll County State Attorney's office for review. Maryland State Police Internal Affairs Division is also investigating the incident.
