A police chase that began with a routine traffic violation in Baltimore County early yesterday ended with a woman dead and two other people critically injured in the city.
Baltimore police traffic investigators said Victoria E. Marine, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene after the suspect's car did not stop at a sign at North Calhoun Street and West Lafayette Avenue and broad-sided a taxi about 2 a.m. She was a passenger in the cab.
The incident began when Baltimore County Officer James Boston saw a traffic violation near the city line on Wilkens Avenue, police said. Officer Boston followed the 1982 Ford Fairmont into the city.
According to Sgt. John O'Brien of the county's Wilkens Precinct, Officer Boston used his flashing lights and siren in the pursuit, which did not reach high speeds.
Officer Boston followed the suspect's car for several miles, police said. At Calhoun and Lafayette, the car ran a stop sign and struck a Checkers Co. taxi traveling west on Lafayette. Ms. Marine, who lived in the 1600 block of West Lafayette St., was sitting in the left rear seat.
The taxi driver, identified by police as Henry Osodi, was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was in serious condition. Another passenger in the cab, Terri Ann Smith, 20, was treated at Shock Trauma and released.
Police identified the driver of the Fairmont as Norman Joseph Rondeau Jr. He was in serious condition.