ELKTON — Investigators have filed 35 traffic charges against a woman who stands accused of striking at least five parked vehicles, stop signs, fences and other objects in Perryville with a sport utility vehicle that she allegedly was driving drunk, according to Cecil County District Court records.
The charging document indicates that the series of crashes occurred on several downtown streets within a matter of moments on the night of Dec. 21, but investigators did not serve the arrest warrant on the suspect, Rose Marie Birney, 52, of Port Deposit, until April 16 because they reportedly were waiting for toxicology results. Birney had a blood-alcohol content of .31 — nearly four times higher than the legal limit — shortly after the series of crashes, court records allege. In Maryland, a blood-alcohol content of .08 is threshold for driving under the influence of alcohol.
In addition to driving while under the influence of alcohol and driving while impaired by alcohol, the traffic citations filed against Birney include charges of reckless driving, negligent driving, failure to remain at the scene of a collision involving property damage and driving at a speed too great to avoid a collision, according to court records.
Birney was released from custody on a $2,500 unsecured bond on April 17, one day after her arrest, in the wake of her bail review hearing, according to court records, which indicate that Retired Cecil County District Court Judge Stephen J. Baker presided over that proceeding. Birney’s district court trial is scheduled for May 16, court records show.
The investigation leading to traffic charges against Birney started at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 21, when a person stopped Perrville Police Department Ofc. Robert Buschman in the 300 block of Ostego Street and reported a recent motor vehicle collision, police said. The officer noticed a parked Ford Escape with “heavy rear end damage and motor vehicle parts laying in the roadway,” police added.
Buschman then noticed what he believed to be the “striking vehicle,” which the officer described as a white GMC Yukon,” and he attempted to stop the Yukon after activating the siren and flashing emergency lights on his patrol vehicle, court records show. The suspect, whom Buschman later identified as Birney, stopped the Yukon on Ostego Street, according to court records.
The charging document indicates that Birney’s face was bleeding from injuries that investigators attributed to her involvement in several crashes that night. Court records allege that Birney was “in a confused state;” that her movements were “slow and lethargic; that she had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage” coming from her and that she had “slurred speech.” In addition, according to the charging document, Birney stumbled when she got out of the Yukon and required assistance from the officer.
An ambulance crew transported Birney to Christiana Hospital in Delaware, where she was treated for her injuries, police said. PPD Det. Anthony Lenzi sent a subpoena request form to the Cecil County State’s Attorney’s Office “for all treatment/toxicology reports” relating to Birney, police added.
The investigation revealed that, shortly before Buschman made the traffic stop that night, Birney allegedly struck several parked vehicles with her Yukon on numerous streets, including the 500 block of Arch Street, the 500 block of Ostego Street, the 500 block of Front Street and the 600 block of Front Street, police reported. The list of struck vehicles includes a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, a 2000 GMC Sierra, a Chevrolet Silverado and a Ford Escape, according to police.
One resident provided investigators with video that shows a white GMC sport utility vehicle drifting to the right and striking a parked vehicle while heading north on Front Street at approximately 10 p.m. on Dec. 21, court records show. That video then shows the white GMC sport utility vehicle hitting a curb and striking a stop sign post, before going through a yard and crashing into a privacy fence and a utility pole, according to court records.
In addition, investigators obtained security-camera video from a representative of American Legion Post 135 in the 300 block of Cherry Street, where, according to the charging document, Birney consumed liquor on the night of Dec. 21 and later allegedly struck a grease container with a white Yukon when she was leaving. In the aftermath of that grease-container collision, Buschman “found numerous vehicle parts laying in the area that were consistent with the damage on (Birney’s) vehicle,” court records allege.
“Video showed Rose Birney inside the American Legion and (later) getting into the driver seat of her white GMC Yukon while combatively pushing away concerned patrons, ultimately leaving the American Legion parking lot, striking the grease container,” according to the charging document.
Court records also allege that a friend of Birney’s who had been drinking with her at the American Legion Post 135 bar on the night of Dec. 21 tried to take Birney’s vehicle keys away from her and that Birney got “combative with her” before driving away. That friend reported that Birney “drank hard liquor in an unknown amount” on Dec. 21, according to the charging document.
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