DELMAR, DE– A serious crash hospitalized three victims in Sussex County Tuesday night and involved an escaped offender from Sussex Community Corrections Center, according to investigators.
Emergency crews responded to the crash near 36440 August Road shortly after 10 p.m. on Sept. 24.
The Delmar Fire Department says August Road was closed between Whitesville Road and Oak Branch Road while crews cleared the scene.
Multiple patients were transported by ambulance and helicopter for emergency medical treatment. According to a social media post by the Delmar Fire Department, one adult and two children were thrown from the vehicle in the crash. The two children were taken by ambulance to a local trauma center, the Fire Department says.
Authorities say an adult woman was life flighted by Maryland State Police to a trauma center with life-threatening injuries.
A second helicopter was used to search for the driver of the vehicle, who reportedly fled the scene, according to authorities.
On Wednesday, Delaware State Police confirmed to WBOC the driver has been identified as 33-year-old Clifford David, of Greenwood. David was listed as an escaped offender on September 24th.
The DOC says 33-year-old Clifford David, of Greenwood, was on a work crew detail away from the Sussex Community Corrections Center when he walked away on Sept. 24.
According to police, David fled a home on Whitesville Road just before 10 p.m. Tuesday in a Chevrolet Silverado with a 25-year-old woman and three children, aged 1, 2, and 7. The truck had earlier been reported stolen in Harrington.
Police say David stopped while fleeing to take the children out of the truck, but the woman pulled two of them back in. A witness took custody of the 7-year-old before David drove off, authorities say.
Investigators report that David then sped down southbound August Road and failed to negotiate a curve. The truck then drove off the road into a ditch, overturning. The woman and children were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected. David then fled the area, according to police.
At 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, police say they found David on Sussex Highway near Salt Barn Road in Laurel and took him into custody. David was taken to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $21,000 secured bond and has been charged with the following:
-Reckless Endangering 1st Degree (Felony) – 3 counts
-Theft of a Motor Vehicle (Felony)
-Receiving Stolen Property (Felony)
-Resisting Arrest
-Vehicular Assault 2nd Degree
-Vehicular Assault 3rd Degree – 2 counts
-Leaving the Scene of an Injury Crash
-Multiple Traffic Offenses
The current condition of the 25-year-old woman and two children was not immediately clear Wednesday afternoon.
