Former MPD Officer Gets Jail Time For Fatal Crash That Killed Anne Arundel Couple

A former Metropolitan Police Department officer has been sentenced to more than a year in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter in connection to a 2021 crash that killed a couple in Anne Arundel County, the state’s attorney’s office announced.

Austin Kirk Smith, 27, of College Park, was sentenced on Friday to 18 months in jail for his role in an early-morning crash that took the lives of Chesapeake Beach resident Leah Mae Foster and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Nicholas Raymond Harris in May 2021.

At approximately 12:50 a.m. on May 27, 2021, officers were called to the intersection of Southern Maryland Boulevard and Lower Pindell Road in Lothian to investigate a multi-vehicle crash that involved fatal injuries.

Investigators said that Smith was driving Dodge Charger was driving southbound on Maryland Boulevard and struck a Chevrolet Equinox being driven by Foster who was crossing through the intersection.

At the time of the crash, officials said that Smith was going more than 100 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Smith was treated at the scene by Anne Arundel County ire Department paramedics and airlifted to an area hospital with “serious injuries.” Foster and Harris were pronounced dead at the scene.

The former police officer was reportedly off-duty and on his way home from work when he struck the SUV.

In addition to his jail term, Smith was also ordered to serve five years of supervised probation, and if he breaks another traffic law, could face decades behind bars.

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