Woman killed in Monday crash on I-695 identified as Windsor Mill resident

Investigators identified the woman who died early Monday after her car was struck in a wrong-way crash on the Baltimore Beltway as 37-year-old Dimeka Thornton.

Baltimore County Police said Monday they had attempted to stop the vehicle, which had been reported stolen, before it struck Thornton, of Windsor Mill, after spotting it in a hotel parking lot on the 1800 block of Belmont Avenue. The driver did not stop for police and continued onto Interstate 695 in the wrong direction. Soon after, that vehicle struck an Acura operated by Thornton.

Both drivers were taken to a hospital. Thornton died, and the other driver — a man whose name still hasn’t been released — had non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Maryland Attorney General’s office, which is investigating the crash.

The office’s Independent Investigations Divison also on Wednesday identified the four officers involved as Sergeant Ferguson, who has 19 years of service in the Baltimore County Police Department; Officer Daley, with 17 years; Officer Marrero and Officer Hadel, both with seven years; and Officer Creter, who has four years. All of the officers are assigned to the department’s Operations Bureau, the office said.

The county officers’ union agreement prevents the department from releasing officers’ full names after police shootings or in-custody deaths. A county salary database lists officers with the same names, ranks and years with the department as Justin Ferguson, Sean Daley, Rafael Marrero, Derek Hadel and Daniel Creter.

Police and the investigations division, which probes fatal encounters with police throughout Maryland, both said the officers did not follow the vehicle onto the Beltway after the driver entered through the outer loop off-ramp before the interstate’s Liberty Road exit.  Soon after, that vehicle struck Thornton’s Acura head-on while driving into oncoming traffic, investigators said.