Arundel officer shoots driver whose van hit police car

An Anne Arundel County police officer shot and wounded the driver of a van Saturday evening in Prince George's County after the van rammed the officer's car following a brief chase, county police said.

The officer, who was not identified, had pursued the van south from Crofton on MD Route 3 about 6:40 p.m. in an attempt to stop it for a registration violation. The officer broke off the chase after crossing into Prince George's County and was preparing to return to Anne Arundel County when the van struck the marked police vehicle at the intersection of Route 3 and MD Route 450, police said.

The van continued to accelerate and was pushing the police vehicle into opposing traffic, police said. "At some point," according to the police statement, the officer fired at the van's driver and hit him.

An off-duty federal officer witnessed the incident and helped the Anne Arundel officer apprehend the van driver, who was identified as Thomas Edward Ryan, 51. Ryan's address was unknown. He was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center, where he was in stable condition, police said.

Ryan was being held on an active or open warrant by Prince George's County police, who are handling the investigation. He was charged with several traffic violations and additional charges are pending.

[e-mail]

• Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts