PALMER PARK, Md. -
Prince George's County Police got a call Sunday night from a person who had left their Acura TL running in the parking lot of an Exxon gas station on Powder Mill Road. Someone jumped in the car and took off.
The next day, there was a theft at a 7-Eleven in Burtonsville. Minutes later, there was suspicious behavior and that same Acura at the Shell station in the Laurel area.
In surveillance video just released by police, the charcoal-colored Acura goes around and around the parking lot of a gas station. Then it slides up beside a white SUV. Someone opens the door just a bit. Then someone else runs across the parking lot to stop what appears to be a theft from a customer's car.
Prince George's County Police say one of the men in that Acura is Kenneth Mitchell, who is already in police custody. The other is Kevon Neal, whose last address was in Fort Washington. Investigators say they need the public's help tracking down Neal. There is a $25,000 reward in the case.
Officer Adrian Morris and his partner were watching the surveillance video at the Shell station when the Acura returned there. The officers followed the Acura out of the gas station and onto southbound I-95. Investigators say swerving to avoid another car made Officer Morris lose control. The car flipped and Morris was killed.
Prince George's County allows pursuit of a suspect only for the most serious of crimes. Reporters asked whether the officers should have been chasing the Acura.
"We all join the police department - become police officers - to do two things: help our community and catch bad guys. That's what they were doing," says Major Mike Straughan of Prince George's County Police.
Funeral arrangements for Police Officer Adrian A. Morris who died in the line of duty on August 20 from injuries sustained in a fatal crash are as follows:
Viewing: Monday, August 27, 2012 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm hours and from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Borgwardt's Funeral Home, 4400 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, Maryland
Services: Tuesday, August 28, 2012, at 9:00 am, Woodstream Church, 9800 Lottsford Road, Mitchellville, Maryland. There will be a viewing from 9:00 am-10:00 am, funeral services to begin immediately after.
Internment immediately following: August 28, 2012, at approximately 1:00 pm, Lakemount Memorial Park Cemetery, 900 West Central Avenue, Davidsonville, Maryland
Repast: Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #89, 2905 Old Largo Road, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
Kevon Neal
Kenneth-Mitchell
