A Frederick man who was accused of intentionally striking a Montgomery County police officer with his vehicle on I-270 in the early morning of Oct. 18, 2023, was found not guilty Friday afternoon by a Montgomery County Circuit Court jury of the most serious charges against him: first- and second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.
The jury, who deliberated over two days, found Raphael Mayorga, now 21, guilty of second-degree assault and several traffic charges including fleeing and eluding police officers, failing to render aid to an injured person and attempting to elude police by fleeing on foot.
The charges resulted from a collision in which Sgt. Patrick Kepp was struck by a Dodge Challenger driven by Mayorga as the officer attempted to deploy stop sticks in a highway lane to stop the speeding car. The incident cost Kepp both of his legs.
Isabelle Raquin, Mayorga’s attorney, declined to comment after the jury delivered its verdict in the Rockville courtroom. Mayorga faces up to 28 years and 120 days in prison and his sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 27.
Kepp was in court for the verdict but left after the sentencing date was announced.
Following the verdict, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy was joined by Assistant police Chief Darren Francke and County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (Dist. 7) in expressing their disappointment with the verdict. McCarthy said it was a “miracle” Kepp was alive and he was devastated to share the news of the verdict.
McCarthy told reporters that Kepp and Mayorga were not strangers to each other and had “face-to-face meetings with each other on at least four occasions.”
“The idea that [Mayorga] did not purposely do this to Officer Kepp is offensive to us,” McCarthy said. “[Mayorga] posted a picture of Patrick on his social media and he knew who he was aiming at, saw him, and in the course of the trial there was a statement that he made that was admitted before the jury that he saw Patrick Kepp.”
Francke said he and the police department were “disheartened” by Friday’s verdict “and that’s putting it kindly.”
“What we’re disheartened by, what we’re angry about is that in this state a 19-year-old can turn a 4,200-pound vehicle into a guided missile,” Francke said. “And on Oct. 18, 2023, he took that missile and endangered all residents in Montgomery County, Maryland, and a public servant like Sgt. Pat Kepp made the decision that this needs to stop.”
Francke noted that state legislators had recently passed the Sgt. Patrick Kepp Act during the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session that ended Monday. The law imposes stricter penalties upon those who drive recklessly. While Francke said he was pleased to see the legislation approved, he said it is only a start at addressing the issue.
McCarthy said his office would seek “substantial penalties” during Mayorga’s August sentencing. While the second-degree assault charge is a misdemeanor, Mayorga was found guilty of two felonies: failure to return to the scene of an accident and failure to stop as close as possible to the scene of a crash.
Trial arguments
After the jury presented its verdict, Judge Harry Storm acknowledged the jurors had handled a “most difficult case.”
The case hinged 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.
The prosecution, Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason, said in her opening argument Monday that the incident was “no accident.”
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, a green dodge Challenger, 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.
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.”
Raquin claimed the case came 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.”
She told the jury that Mayorga’s high-speed driving was “inexcusable,” but that he should not be found guilty of attempted murder.
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.
Bethesda Today freelancer Courtney Cohn contributed to this report.
