Two teen-agers in critical condition after car accident

Two teen-agers remained in critical condition yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after suffering injuries in an accident Wednesday afternoon near Taylorsville, authorities said.

The accident occurred about 3 p.m. when a 1997 Dodge Stratus traveling west on Sams Creek Road crossed Route 27 (Ridge Road) and entered the path of a 1995 Ford F150 pickup truck traveling north, police said.

The driver of the car, Johnathan Thomas Stapleton, 18, of the 3100 block of Cardinal Drive, was in critical condition at the trauma center, a spokeswoman said. A passenger in the car, Randolph Moody, 17, of the 3100 block of Salem Bottom Road, was in critical but stable condition. A second passenger, Ryan Pickett, 17, of the 1300 block of Hoods Mill Road, was treated at the center and released.

The driver of the pickup truck, Kenneth Richard Haugh, 44, of the 3500 block of Ridge Road was treated at Carroll County General Hospital and released, police said. The truck is owned by Foster & Clark Heating and Air Conditioning Co. Inc. of Sykesville and Ellicott City, police said.

The accident remains under investigation, authorities said.

71-year-old hurt in fall from tree he was trimming

A 71-year-old man from the Manchester area was in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after he fell from a tree he was cutting in a Westminster neighborhood, authorities said.

Allen Becker of the Becker Allen Tree Service of Westminster had climbed the tree in a common area off the 500 block of Quarrier Court in Furnace Hills when the accident occurred about 9 a.m., Westminster police said.

Becker, of the 3400 block Warehime Road, was conscious but suffered apparent back and neck injuries, police said.