“It didn’t swerve. It didn’t weave.”
Montgomery County police Sgt. Patrick Kepp said while testifying Monday in a matter-of-fact manner in a Rockville court about the trajectory of the lime green Dodge Challenger he was attempting to stop on I-270 in the moments before it plowed into him. The collision on Oct. 18, 2023, cost the officer his legs.
On trial this week in Montgomery County Circuit Court is the Challenger’s driver, Raphael Mayorga, 21, of Frederick. Mayorga is facing numerous charges related to the incident, including attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, causing life-threatening injuries, attempting to elude a police officer and a myriad of traffic offenses. Mayorga, who did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the collision, was ordered held without bond after his arrest on Oct. 18, 2023.
The charges hinge on whether Mayorga, then 19, intended to harm Kepp.
“Recklessness is not intent to murder,” Mayorga’s attorney, Isabelle Raquin, argued in her opening argument on Monday. She contended that Mayorga did not see Kepp in the roadway north of Watkins Mill Road and once he did, it was too late to stop.
Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday and the trial is expected to last until Friday.
The collision
In the early hours of Oct. 18, 2023, police allege Mayorga repeatedly drove 110 mph as he entered and exited the north- and southbound lanes of I-270 beginning at the Clarksburg Outlets. Montgomery County police said officers attempted to stop Mayorga, noting that they suspected him of being under the influence and attempting to goad them into a chase.
At one point, an officer deployed stop sticks, which are used to deflate tires, but Mayorga navigated his way around him, charging documents indicated.
Kepp, who had turned on his cruiser’s lights and stopped on the left-hand shoulder on I-270 north of Watkins Mill Road, exited his patrol car to deploy another set of stop sticks, charging documents stated.
While Kepp was placing the stop sticks, Mayorga allegedly veered his car to the left and struck Kepp around 3:55 a.m., according to the documents.
After striking Kepp, Mayorga allegedly continued northbound on I-270 until another officer successfully deployed stop sticks, forcing the vehicle to stop, according to charging documents. Police said they arrested Mayorga and a passenger in the vehicle. At the time, then-Police Chief Marcus Jones said the passenger’s identity would not be released, and the passenger would not be charged.
Kepp’s right leg was amputated in the crash and his left leg was amputated during surgery at the hospital. After months of recovery and intensive rehabilitation, Kepp returned to work at the police department in June 2024.
Prosecution: ‘No accident’
“This case was no accident,” Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason said during her opening argument Monday.
Gleason said Mayorga engaged in “deliberate, intentional actions” for hours before the incident, driving at speeds as high at 160 mph, evading police officers trying to stop him and aiming his car at Kepp.
Mayorga recognized Kepp, Gleason said, noting that Kepp arrested Mayorga on May 26, 2023, for several traffic citations. Mayorga was allowed to remain free on bond, according to police. Additionally, Gleason said Mayorga had used a photo of Kepp as his profile photo on Instagram in July 2024 after his friend had been arrested by Kepp.
Kepp testified Monday that before the collision, he was standing in the leftmost travel lane, ready to deploy the stop sticks to halt Mayorga’s vehicle, which was approaching in one of the two right lanes of the highway.
“I was in the roadway, and I was fully illuminated by the headlights of my vehicle,” Kepp said.
Mayorga’s vehicle was driving in the right lanes until it “had changed its path and was driving directly at me at a diagonal,” Kepp said. Leading up to this point, Kepp said the car was driving in a straight path, noting that “it didn’t swerve” and “it didn’t weave.”
A passing driver who witnessed the incident from the right shoulder of the highway, Blake Joppy, 31, testified Monday that Mayorga’s vehicle “made a slight veer to the left and just fully accelerated,” noting that the engine got louder as it got closer to Kepp.
Kepp testified that when he saw the Challenger change paths to head directly toward him, “I made the decision to drop the stop sticks and dive out of the way towards the shoulder.”
The Challenger ran over Kepp’s legs, crushing them. Kepp was flown to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious, life-threatening injuries, charging documents indicated.
Gleason said that after Mayorga struck Kepp, he “didn’t touch the brakes, didn’t turn around [and] didn’t offer aid.”
Defense says Mayorga didn’t try to harm Kepp
Presenting her opening argument, Raquin claimed the case comes down to what happened in the seconds before the collision.
“Raphael Mayorga did not want the collision to occur. He did not mean for the accident to take place. He didn’t want to hit a police officer in the middle of the highway,” Raquin said. “He tried to avoid the officer. He didn’t go and turn to hit him. He turned to avoid him.”
Raquin also said officers typically deploy stop sticks from the shoulder of a road, not from a travel lane as Kepp did. She noted the county police department’s policy says that an officer is permitted to deploy stop sticks only if he could do so “in a safe manner.”
Raquin said that the fact that Mayorga had previously been stopped by Kepp was “pure coincidence” and the use of Kepp’s photo as his profile photo on Instagram was just online trolling, which many teenage boys do.
She told the jury that Mayorga’s high-speed driving was “inexcusable,” but that he should not be found guilty of attempted murder.
Throughout the day Monday, the jury heard from police officers, paramedics and civilian witnesses who were at the scene of the incident.
