The woman critically injured in last week’s Brandywine pursuit crash has died, Maryland’s Independent Investigations Division confirmed Monday, identifying her as 33-year-old Alexis Cummings of Temple Hills and naming the two Charles County Sheriff’s Office officers involved in the pursuit.
As previously reported, the crash occurred Aug. 25 after CCSO deputies attempted to stop a vehicle whose occupant had been flagged by Arlington County, Virginia police. The vehicle fled, and deputies pursued it before it crashed into two other vehicles on Route 301, just south of McKendree Road near the Prince George’s/Charles County line. Cummings and another woman inside the fleeing car were hospitalized; Cummings was reported in grave condition in initial coverage and has since died from her injuries.
Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office identified the involved officers as PFC Eddie Vanover, a five-year CCSO veteran, and Cpl. Justin Bottorf, a 13-year veteran, both assigned to the department’s Patrol Division. The names were released roughly four business days after the crash — slightly beyond the IID’s standard two-business-day guideline, though the agency’s protocol allows extensions when necessary.
The IID, which investigates all police-involved incidents resulting in death or serious injury regardless of whether wrongdoing is suspected, said its investigation into the crash’s circumstances continues. Both officers were equipped with body-worn cameras, and their vehicles had dash cameras; that footage is generally released within 20 business days of an incident, though the timeline can extend for reasons including ongoing witness interviews, technical work needed to protect civilian witnesses’ identities, or to give family members a chance to view the footage before public release.
Cummings’ family has since turned to remembering her. In a GoFundMe campaign launched to cover funeral and memorial costs, relatives wrote: “It is with a deeply heavy heart that we share the heartbreaking news of the sudden passing of our beloved sister, Alexis Cummings.”
Anyone with information about the crash, including cell phone or private surveillance video, is asked to contact the IID at (410) 576-7070 or IID@oag.maryland.gov.
