Following icy trail of fatal Towsontown accident Family investigating mystery of fatal crash
01/14/04
Story By Loni Ingraham

If it was ice that led to a fatal traffic accident on Towsontown Boulevard in December, who was responsible for the ice being there?

Lew Neuwelt, a private investigator working on behalf of the family who lost two little girls in the Dec. 3 accident, is seeking help from the public to find the answer to that question.

Neuwelt is looking for information about a truck he said was observed by a number of people, parked on Charles Street Avenue near the scene of the crash early that morning. The truck reportedly was draining water from a fire hydrant - water that Neuwelt believes could have produced ice.

Knollwood resident Alana Gray had no reason to suspect there might be ice on road as she drove west on Towsontown Boulevard that day with her two young daughters in the car.

The boulevard is heavily traveled, the sun was out and it hadn't rained in three days.

But at 9:26 a.m., according to Baltimore County Police, Gray's Lexus hit a patch of ice at the Charles Street Avenue intersection. The car spun out of control into an eastbound lane of the boulevard, where it was hit by a Chevrolet Suburban.

The Suburban slammed into the back of the Lexus, where 9-month-old Kathryn and 2-year-old Eloise were strapped into safety seats.

Eloise was pronounced dead shortly afterward. Baby Kathyrn died the next day.

Speed was not a factor, police said.

But the ice slick that developed from water generated by the fire hydrant across the street was, according to the Gray's lawyer, Paul Beckman.

Beckman said that afterward, several people made it known they had noticed the ice from the hydrant earlier that morning. And some reported seeing a green truck parked next to the hydrant earlier that day and possibly the night before.

One person recalled it was shaped like a lawn chemical truck, according to Neuwelt. Another said it looked like a flat-bed truck with a tank on it.

No one, so far, recalls the lettering on the truck, if it had any.

By all accounts the truck was there at 7:30 that morning but gone by 8.

Baltimore County police are continuing an investigation of the accident, police spokesman Bill Toohey said. But the final comprehensive report will not be available for several weeks.

"A tragedy occurred," Beckman said. "This is the world's worst nightmare. The family is taking it day by day. How could you do otherwise?"

It's a question of accountability, Beckman said. "Somebody came to that hydrant and opened it up and created the ice slick that precipitated this accident."

Don Wright, a West Towson resident and president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations, said it is unfortunate that someone would create a hazardous situation and not take action to protect drivers from it by calling 911 or putting up warning signs or blocking traffic.

But there is more than enough blame to go around, Wright said.

"It bothers me in today's cell phone society that nobody called to report it," he said.

In any case, "It should never have happened and we just don't want this type of thing to ever happen again."

Anyone who can provide information about the truck may call Paul Beckman at 410-539-6633.