Wendell Giovanni Estes, 49, of Waldorf
Wendell Giovanni Estes, 49, of Waldorf, is facing a wide array of criminal and traffic charges following an early morning incident on March 28, 2025, that began at a hotel in La Plata and ended in a high-speed pursuit spanning multiple jurisdictions.
According to court documents, officers with the La Plata Police Department were dispatched to the Best Western hotel located at 6900 Crain Highway in Charles County around 1:59 a.m. after receiving a report of a man with a firearm making threats.
Upon arrival, Sgt. Piersa of the La Plata Police Department met with an adult female victim, who stated that she and the suspect, later identified as Wendell Estes, had been in a hotel room using crack cocaine. According to the statement given to police, “Estes started demanding money and sexual favors,” which made the woman feel unsafe. She said she ran out of the hotel room into the parking lot to get away, but Estes followed her.
“She then stated that Estes pulled a black handgun out and pointed it at her,” Officer Madison, the arresting officer, wrote in a sworn statement of probable cause. The victim identified a tan SUV with Virginia license plates as the vehicle Estes was driving, which was seen leaving the parking lot as police arrived.
Officer Madison attempted a traffic stop on Charles Street, but Estes allegedly refused to pull over and began to flee. The officer activated emergency lights and sirens, but Estes accelerated instead, initiating a pursuit.
According to the police report, the suspect reached speeds over 90 mph, running stop signs and driving in the wrong lane of traffic as he sped down several roads including La Plata Road, Leonardtown Road, Trotter Road, Bryan-town Road, Woodville Road, and St. Peters Church Road, crossing into Prince George’s County. Police said he threw “unknown items” from the vehicle during the chase.
Law enforcement deployed stop sticks along Crain Highway, and although Estes’s vehicle hit them, he continued to flee northbound until the SUV lost a front tire and eventually came to a stop at the Route 5/301 split. Officers conducted a felony stop and took Estes into custody.
Police say they recovered a gold handgun with a black handle—thrown from the vehicle before the stop—near the passenger side window. The firearm was unloaded, and its serial number had been “scratched off,” according to Officer Madison. A black airsoft pistol was also found inside the vehicle’s glove compartment.
Estes was transported to the Charles County Detention Center. He faces the following criminal charges:
- First-degree assault
- Second-degree assault
- Illegal possession of a regulated firearm
- Possession of a firearm after a felony conviction
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony
- Reckless endangerment
- Obliteration of a firearm serial number
- Handgun on person
- Handgun in vehicle
- Concealed dangerous weapon
In addition to these felony and misdemeanor charges, Estes has been cited for numerous traffic violations, including:
- Driving over the speed limit
- Reckless driving
- Negligent driving
- Unsafe lane changes
- Failure to obey traffic signals and stop signs
- Failure to remain on the right side of the roadway
- Attempting to elude police by fleeing in a vehicle
- Failure to stop for a police vehicle using emergency signals
Estes made his initial court appearance the same day as the arrest, where a judge ordered him held without bond. At a bond review hearing on March 31, 2025, the court upheld the no-bond status. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 22, 2025, at the Charles County District Court.
