Joseph Sunday Arrested; – A 66-year-old man has been named by law enforcement as the suspected driver who crashed into a child’s birthday party in Bladensburg, Maryland, over the weekend, resulting in the death of a woman and injuring 13 others, including eight children.
The suspect, identified as Joseph Sunday from Washington, D.C., was apprehended on Monday, as reported by the Bladensburg Police Department.
Sunday faces charges of two counts of negligent manslaughter with a vehicle and failure to remain at the scene of an accident that resulted in a fatality, according to the police department.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Saturday when a vehicle reversing in a residential area of Bladensburg struck a gathering on the front lawn of a home celebrating a child’s birthday, as stated by police.
The car collided with a party tent that had been erected on the lawn, according to police reports. The driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene but later turned himself in to authorities, they reported.
The investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the driver’s crash into the party, including whether the suspect was under the influence at the time of the incident, according to officials from the Bladensburg police.
As of Tuesday, it was not clear whether Sunday had retained legal counsel.
The woman who lost her life in the crash has been identified by police as 31-year-old Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez from Washington, D.C.
Five adults and eight children, aged between 1 and 17, were taken to the hospital with injuries, according to police. Initially, one young girl and a toddler were treated for critical injuries, as reported by the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department.
During a press conference on Monday, Bladensburg’s acting Police Chief Daniel Frishkorn stated that three victims, including a child and two adults, remained hospitalized.
