Driver Charged in Fatal Collision

It happened on March 9, 2024, in Montgomery County, Maryland.Police Department logo

Gaithersburg, MD.  (LG)    A 25 year old Bethesda man has been arrested on charges of gross negligent manslaughter by vehicle.

According to Montgomery County Police, the charges stem from a fatal collision that happened in March of this year, on Connecticut Avenue, where 30 year old Jobanie Alfredo Cruz, of Washington, D.C., was killed.

It happened shortly after 12 midnight,  on March 9, 2024, when a white convertible Mercedes, operated by Owen Fowler, struck a 1500 Ram pickup. Detectives said both men were racing their vehicles with each other when the accident occurred.

Investigators said Cruz’s vehicle ran off the right side of the road and struck a utility pole, and multiple trees before overturning.  Fowler’s pickup truck overturned in the roadway. Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene and Fowler was hospitalized with non life threatening injuries.

By Loretta Gaines