City man gets 5 years in crash

An Annapolis man was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for causing a seven-car pileup in April that left four people injured.

Joseph Oden Estep, 45, was found guilty in September of stealing a car, driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of the Parole accident.

Assistant State's Attorney Crighton Chase said after the sentencing that the punishment showed how seriously Circuit Court Judge William C. Mulford II viewed the crash.

"I think Judge Mulford, through his sentencing, recognized the severity of what Mr. Estep did," Chase said.

According to prosecutors and police, Estep was driving a 2006 Honda Pilot at 4:30 p.m. April 28 north on Solomons Island Road near the South River Bridge. He began to tailgate an unmarked county police car, then swerved around him and started tailgating another car.

The officer tried to stop the car, but Estep continued on, increasing his speed. The officer followed him briefly but called it off after a few seconds, as departmental policy requires.

Chase said Estep tried to drive between two lines of vehicles waiting for the red light at Aris T. Allen Boulevard, clipping six cars and trucks in the process.

"He smashed between the rows of vehicles," Chase said during the plea hearing in September. "Rear wheels were ripped off. Side panels were destroyed."

After the wreck, Estep got out of the Honda - which had been reported stolen 11 hours earlier in Annapolis - and ran into the woods. Police found him in a briar patch. He was arrested without incident.

Estep smelled of alcohol and was slurring his speech after the crash, prosecutors said. He refused to take a preliminary breath test.

According to a police report, four people were injured in the wreck, which occurred just before rush hour. Though none of the victims spoke in court yesterday, Chase noted that several were seriously injured.

One victim, who injured his neck and shoulder in the crash, still suffers from regular headaches as a result, he said. One car had a child in it; another driver was pregnant. Neither of those people were injured, but they were frightened, Chase said.

Assistant Public Defender Karl Gordon said his client has a significant substance-abuse problem and was kicked out of a drug rehab program in April 2008 because he relapsed. He also had been a drug court participant prior to his arrest in this case.

"He's been using drugs for so long, it's been hard for him to get himself straightened out," Gordon said.

Estep himself apologized to the court for his "stupidity," and said he was trying to get his life together.

Estep has a criminal record dating back to 1982, including thefts, assaults, burglary and other charges.

"He is a major offender," Chase said.

He said Estep's substance-abuse problem could not excuse the crash and its aftermath.

"These people were just going about their business, just going about their day," he said. "As a result of (Estep's) decision, these people got hurt."

Mulford sentenced Estep to seven years in prison with two years suspended. After he's released, he'll be on probation for three years.

In addition, he ordered Estep to pay $16,253.21 to State Farm insurance to pay for one of the cars that was wrecked, plus the $200 for that driver's deductible.

As a condition of his probation, he also will have to pay $225 to one person who was injured in the crash and $800 to another to cover some medical expenses.