By Associated Press - Sunday, July 26, 2020

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) - A Maryland motorist was charged in the deaths of two people in a weekend collision on a suburban Washington highway, state police said Sunday.

Mark D. Austin, 35, of Brandywine, was held without bond in the Prince George’s County detention center, Maryland State Police said in a news release. He’s charged with two counts each of motor vehicle manslaughter and criminally negligent manslaughter for Saturday’s crash, according to the release.

A preliminary state police investigation determined that Austin failed to stop for a red traffic signal in his truck while traveling northbound on Crain Highway in Upper Marlboro, the release said. His pickup collided with a car making a turn onto a cross street after traveling southbound on the highway.

The two people in the car died at the scene. They are Michael Hethmon, 66, of Upper Marlboro, and the driver, a 49-year-old woman from Upper Marlboro whose name was withheld by police pending the notification of family members.

The police said speed, failure to obey a traffic control device and driver impairment were factors in the crash, and that additional charges are possible. Austin’s online court records, accessed on Sunday, didn’t identify an attorney representing him.

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