La Plata Woman Succumbs to Injuries Sustained from Motor Vehicle Collision After Hit and Run Driver Runs Red Light

January 20, 2021

UPDATE 1/20/2021: On Sunday, January 17 at 4:52 p.m., officers responded to the area of Billingsley Road near St. Patricks Drive in Waldorf for the report of a motor vehicle crash.

A preliminary investigation showed the driver of a Jeep was traveling southbound on St Patricks Drive when he struck the rear of another car also traveling on St Patrick’s Drive. No one was injured in that crash; however, the driver of the Jeep fled, drove through a red light at Billingsley Road and struck a Toyota Camry which was westbound on Billingsley Road. The collision sent both vehicles into a wooded area.

The driver of the Jeep, a 35-year-old man from Baltimore, was transported to a hospital where he was treated for injuries that were not life threatening. The two occupants of the Toyota Camry were flown to a hospital.

On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, the driver of the Toyota, Betty Inez Ellis, 77, of La Plata, died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the crash. The passenger in her car, a 61-year-old male, was released from the hospital.

Anyone with additional information about this case is asked to call Cpl. R. Brooks of the Traffic Operations Unit at (301) 932-3056. The investigation is ongoing.


1/18/2021: On Sunday, January 17, 2021, at approximately 4:55 p.m., police, fire and rescue personnel responded to St. Patricks Drive and Billesley Road in Waldorf, for the reported motor vehicle collision with injuries.

An off-duty police officer arrived on the scene and called 91 to report multiple subjects trapped. The assignment was then upgraded to a motor vehicle collision reported serious with entrapment.

Crews arrived on the scene to find two vehicles off the roadway and in the woods, with two patients trapped.

One patient was transported by ambulance to an area trauma center. Two patients were transported by Maryland State Police Helicopter Trooper 2 to an area trauma center.

Police, and a Crash Reconstruction Specialist Team responded to investigate the collision.

Updates will be provided when they become available.

Photos courtesy of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department.