Md. man accused in fatal crash after carjacking an ambulance pleads guilty
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Version 0 of 1. A Silver Spring man accused of stealing an ambulance and slamming it into a car, killing the driver, pleaded guilty Wednesday to several charges, including carjacking, manslaughter and driving under the influence. Sebastian Isaksen, 34, was arrested in December after the incident that authorities said began with emergency medical technicians trying to administer aid to him after an initial crash on the Capital Beltway. It ended with a separate high-speed crash involving several cars outside a Greenbelt shopping center, authorities said. [ Silver Spring man is suspect in ambulance carjacking, fatal crash, police say ] Emergency crews had stopped along the inner loop of the Capital Beltway in Greenbelt about 6 p.m. on Dec. 14 when they saw that Isaksen had rear-ended a car, Prince George’s County police and prosecutors with the state’s attorney’s office said. Isaksen refused to be treated and punched at least one ambulance operator before he drove off in the emergency vehicle, prosecutors said. He sped away and exited the Beltway, but lost control of the ambulance and set off a chain-reaction crash involving at least a dozen cars, police said. Alvin Hargrave, 77, died after the crash, and a pregnant woman in the car with him was seriously injured, police said. Hargrave’s son, Mike Hargrave, said his father was enjoying retirement after spending decades as a math teacher to thousands of students in the region. Alvin Hargrave was an avid tennis player who lived life to the fullest, and left behind two sons and five grandchildren, his son said. Isaksen’s plea won’t bring his father back but it at least offers some closure to the case, Mike Hargrave said. “We’re pleased that this is coming to a resolution,” Hargrave, 54, said. “Our biggest concern is that this is not allowed to happen again.” Isaksen’s attorney and father declined to comment after the Wednesday hearing. At the time of the crash, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department called the incident “horrific” and “extremely unusual.” “The scene looked like a tornado . . . where cars were tossed around like Tonka toys,” Mark Brady said after the incident. Isaksen’s blood-alcohol level at the time was more than twice the legal limit for drivers in Maryland, prosecutors said. John Erzen, a spokesman for the Prince George’s state’s attorney’s office, said prosecutors will request a prison sentence of 25 years. The sentence would be appropriate given the assault of the ambulance driver, the death of Hargrave and the harm Isaksen could have caused others during the crash, Erzen said. Court records also indicate that Isaksen has been convicted in at least one DUI case in the past. “We believe that serious time is warranted in this case,” Erzen said,“especially when you look at his priors as someone who has some sort of alcohol dependency issue and someone who has not learned from previous convictions.” Isaksen is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18. |