Woman Killed, Child Injured In Crash With Driver Fleeing Police: MD Attorney General

LANDOVER, MD — The Independent Investigations Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General will be investigating a fatal police-involved collision that happened in Landover Friday night and left four children without their mother.

On March 21 around 7:30 p.m., an officer with the Seat Pleasant Police Department attempted to stop a Genesis sedan in the 6300 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway. The driver initially stopped then took off. The officer issued a "be on the lookout" alert to area law enforcement. Several minutes later, Prince George’s County Police Department officers saw the Genesis at a nearby gas station located in the 6700 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway, activated their emergency equipment and attempted to stop the car as it headed eastbound on Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway, according to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.

The driver refused to stop and a brief pursuit ensued. A short time later, the driver of the Genesis collided with a Nissan SUV that was driven by a woman with a child passenger at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway and Belle Haven Drive in Landover. The woman and child were taken to area hospitals. The woman was pronounced dead at the hospital. The child was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Genesis was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. No officers were injured. The involved officers were equipped with body-worn camera and the vehicles were equipped with dash cameras, according to the state attorney general's office.

Loved ones told News4 that Patricia Riddick was the woman and mother of four killed when the Genesis slammed into her SUV. She had just picked up her daughter and were on their way home.

“She was three minutes away from home….” said Crystal Bandy, Riddick’s mother-in-law. “Three minutes. It was the worst three minutes of our life. The worst nightmare of our life. And to me, I'm just waiting for somebody to pinch me and say it’s not, it’s just a dream, it’s not real.”

Riddick's four children are now parentless as their fathers also died last year.

“Last year was a rough year for us because she lost both of her kids’ fathers… We’re broken. We have a 14-year-old, we have an 8-year-old, we have a 7-year-old and we have a 4-year-old that don’t have no parents…” Bandy said. “She was their everything.”

The Prince George’s County officer has been identified as Corporal Travis Underwood, a 6-year veteran of the department. Underwood is assigned to the Community Action Team.

The IID asks that anyone with information about this investigation contact them at (410) 576-7070 or by email at IID@oag.state.md.us.