SNOW HILL — A Salisbury man, sentenced in 2017 to 10 years for a first-degree assault conviction after attempting to run a Worcester County Sheriff’s deputy off the road, had his appeal denied this week.
On Jan. 1, 2017, Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Hayes was on uniformed patrol in the area of Routes 50 and 589 and observed a vehicle suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run crash reported in Ocean City. The same vehicle had reportedly fled from a Maryland State Police trooper at the Princess Anne barrack the day before.
Hayes observed the driver, later identified as Glenn Allen Carmean, 47, of Salisbury, commit several traffic violations in the area of Routes 50 and 589. In addition, the deputy observed front-end damage on the vehicle consistent with the reported hit-and-run accident in Ocean City.
The deputy initiated a traffic stop in the area of Routes 50 and 346 in Berlin to no avail and a pursuit ensued. According to police reports, Carmean allegedly attempted to ram Hayes at speeds over 100 mph during the pursuit. Hayes was able to slam on his brakes to avoid the collision by about six inches.
The chase continued into Wicomico County, and after being pursued for roughly 35 miles, Carmean crashed in the median of Route 50 at Hobbs Road near the Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Carmean was pulled from his vehicle unconscious and smelling of alcohol and an open bottle of liquor was recovered from the vehicle.
Carmean was ultimately found guilty of first-degree assault and was sentenced in Worcester County Circuit Court to 10 years in prison. He appealed the conviction and 10-year sentencing, asserting he did not intentionally attempt to ram Hayes’ vehicle and that doing so would have interrupted his primary goal of evading capture. This week, the state’s Court of Special Appeals upheld the trial court’s conviction and Carmean’s 10-year sentence.
According to the appeals court’s opinion, Carmean asserted the trial court erred in convicting him of first-degree assault for allegedly attempting to ram Hayes’ vehicle.
“Appellant argues he was seeking to elude police rather than cause serious physical injury and that any inference that he had the specific intent to cause serious injury to Deputy Hayes rests on mere speculation,” the opinion reads. “Appellant states that the evidence simply did not allow the trial court to determine the appellant’s fully-formed and conscious purpose.”
During trial, Hayes and a Maryland State Police trooper also involved in the high-speed chase testified that Carmean purposely veered into Hayes’ lane in an attempt to run him off the road. However, Carmean asserted his primary objective was eluding capture.
“Appellant also claims the record does not support a reasonable inference that the appellant actually tried to cause serious physical harm to Deputy Hayes as required to establish an attempted battery,” the opinion reads.
However, the prosecution successfully argued the fact Carmean’s vehicle did not strike Hayes’ vehicle and did not undermine his intent to cause the deputy injury or possibly death.
“The state discusses that while Deputy Hayes was not injured by the appellant, actual injury is irrelevant to determining whether the appellant is guilty of first-degree assault,” the opinion reads. “Finally, the state contends the trial court was entitled to rely on common sense when reviewing the evidence and reaching its decision. We agree. We are persuaded that there was sufficient evidence from which a rational fact-finder could find that the appellant placed Deputy Hayes in fear and intended to cause Deputy Hayes serious physical injury.”
