Woman found with stab wounds in crashed minivan

Police call off search, no public threat seen

By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer

Published 10/28/09

County police are still investigating the stabbing of a 67-year-old woman in Odenton yesterday morning, but have called off their search of the area and said there is no public threat.

Heather Rawlyk - The Capital County police searched this minivan for clues after the driver, a 67-year-old woman, crashed into a pickup on Patuxent Road in Odenton Tuesday. The woman was found behind the wheel with multiple stab wounds.

The woman was found with multiple stab wounds behind the wheel of a maroon Chevrolet Venture minivan she had crashed into a red pickup on Patuxent Road near Conway Road in the Piney Orchard area at about 10:15 a.m., county police said.

No one else was in the van and no other injuries were reported. She was taken by ambulance to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with life-threatening injuries, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman.

The woman told police she was parked at a pond in the 1200 block of Patuxent Road when a white man with a long beard, wearing a red shirt, tapped the driver's-side window with a gun and demanded her purse, said Justin Mulcahy, a county police spokesman. She said the man stabbed her repeatedly after she refused to hand over her bag.

She said she tried to drive to safety, but crashed before she could get help, Mulcahy said.

Sixteen police units, including a K-9 team, scoured a 3-mile radius for four hours in search for a suspect. Officers checked nearby parks and ponds, including a pond in Crofton, and shut down Patuxent Road for about an hour, he said.

Police interviewed a few men who matched the description the woman provided, said Sgt. J.W. Short, who was investigating the scene. He said none of the men turned out to be suspects.

By 2 p.m., police determined there was no threat to public safety and said they were no longer searching for a suspect, Mulcahy said.

Police continued to investigate the stabbing yesterday afternoon, searching the crashed minivan for clues as to how the woman received her injuries. Crime-scene technicians and officers rifled through the van, which continued to take up one of two lanes on Patuxent Road at 11:30 a.m.

The front end of the driver's side was crushed and a wheel was out of place. The street was covered in glass and debris from the collision. A folded wheelchair was stored in the back of the van, and the air bag was deployed.

A large red pickup was seen being towed from the crash site at 11 a.m.

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that park! - 2009-10-29 07:26:48

is notorious for all kinds of stuff. And as for him showing a gun while her window was rolled up, but she gets stabbed instead.....later. NEXT TIME HIT THE GAS!

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Jean Richards - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

Lynde - 2009-10-28 20:31:43

Great question - one you would expect a competent reporter to ask.

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Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral

Threat? - 2009-10-28 17:50:25

How is there no longer a threat if no one has been found?

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Lynde Gallegos - Odenton, MD - Karma: Neutral

Are 8 year olds writing for the Cap - 2009-10-28 17:04:34

a)"A large red pickup was seen being towed from the crash sit at 11 a.m." Wow, really. I assumed it would sprout wings and fly away.

b) The man knocked on the window with a gun, but he ended up stabbing her.... with that gun? Wouldn't a keen reporter think that doesn't make sense and ask a follow-up question? Did he have to put the gun away to get the knife, or did he have a gun in one hand and a knife in the other?

c) "Police interviewed a few men who matched the description the woman provided" - white man with a beard and a red shirt. Were they holding a Santa Claus convention in the park?

d)Two very poignant observations this writer pointed out - the folded wheelchair in the back of the van and the wheel that was "out of place". Hmmm..

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Floyd daBarber - Mayberry, NC - Karma: Neutral