A man who allegedly stole a tow truck, led a chaotic police chase and hit several cars in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in February, has been indicted by a grand jury, according to a statement Friday from the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Flavio Lanuza, 27, of Laurel was indicted on 27 charges in Montgomery County, including first-degree assault, second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting/interfering with arrest, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
On Feb. 16, shortly before 5 p.m., state police officers responded to a report of a hit-and-run involving four vehicles on the inner loop of I-495 at the Greenbelt Metro station in Prince George’s County, according to the state police.
A driver of one of the four vehicles exited his car, stole a Maryland State Highway Administration CHART (Coordinated Highways Action Response Team) tow truck that had responded to the incident and then struck two vehicles as he fled, state police said in a statement.
State troopers from multiple area barracks, along with police helicopters, searched for the truck, locating it at 5:50 p.m., according to the release.
When officers tried to use a rolling roadblock to stop the truck, the driver allegedly intentionally collided with a marked state police car and then drove away, traveling on Gracefield Road in Silver Spring, charging documents stated.
Later, as the driver was exiting a gas station parking lot on East Randolph Road, he allegedly intentionally struck another state police vehicle, pushing it more than 50 feet, according to charging documents. The trooper in the car was taken to a nearby hospital due to injuries from the crash, charging documents said.
Then, the driver entered traffic, traveling in the wrong direction, and hit as many as eight vehicles on Route 29, charging documents said.
According to the state police, the driver allegedly struck 13 vehicles throughout the chase, leading to one driver, a Maryland state trooper and a Montgomery County police officer being transported to area hospitals due to injuries.
Ultimately, the tow truck became stuck in “soft ground” near a gas station in the 10700 block of Columbia Pike (Route 29) in Silver Spring, according to police and charging documents.
Lanuza was taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. and was transported to Suburban Hospital for the treatment of his injuries, state police said.
He was transferred from the hospital to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Feb. 28, Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle O’Grady said.
On Feb. 29, a Montgomery County District Court judge ordered that Lanuza be held without bond at the County Correctional Facility in Boyds.
“This is one of the most extreme dangers that I’ve seen in this community, maybe ever,” Judge Harry Reed III said during the bond hearing held in the Rockville court.
During the hearing, Lanuza’s attorney, Maria Mena, argued that Lanuza should not be held without bond and should receive mental health treatment because “it’s so apparent that this is someone who is showing symptoms of having a mental health crisis.”
She said that in the week leading up to the incident, Lanuza’s family observed that he was non-verbal and frequently pacing, which she said were symptoms of mental illness. She also noted that Lanuza, who immigrated from Nicaragua three years ago, has no criminal history in the U.S.
After the bond hearing, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said, “Judge Reed very appropriately held the defendant in this case without bond.”