A 58-year-old man has died after a group of seven kids driven by a 13-year-old boy in a stolen car crashed into his vehicle in a Washington, DC, suburb this week, authorities said.
The crash happened early the morning of Aug. 4 just before 5:30 a.m. in Germantown, Maryland, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. Police responded to the scene and found both vehicles, a white 2015 Kia Optima and a 2007 Toyota Matrix, with “extensive damage.”
The driver of the Toyota, identified as Virginia resident William Vance Payne, II, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Seven children were in the Kia, which was reported stolen hours later. They were girls ages 14, 14, 13 and 12, and boys ages 15, 13 and 12. The 13-year-old boy was determined to be the driver, police said. He was transported to a hospital in critical but stable condition, while the other children were taken to area trauma centers, police said. Their conditions were not revealed.
Police said the Kia was traveling northbound and entered an intersection, striking the eastbound Toyota. Photos and video from the scene show the Kia came to rest upside-down. Both cars were mangled in the crash.
The crash has rocked the local community in Montgomery County and left residents wondering how a group of kids ended up with a stolen vehicle.
“At this age, they’re not supposed to be driving,” Shiera Goff with the police department told NBC4 Washington. “Parents, just make sure you know where your children are.”
Not all the children were secured in seatbelts, Goff said.
Payne was a father of five who was on the way to work the morning of the crash, his family told WJLA. He was a mechanical engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and had a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University, according to the agency’s website. USA TODAY has reached out to NIST.
The investigation could take weeks or months to complete, and any charges will be decided by the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, police said. USA TODAY has reached out to the Montgomery County Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office for updates.
Germantown is a Census-designated place northwest of the nation’s capital with a population of about 90,000 people.