A 42-year-old Rockville man is being held without bond after Talbot County Sheriff's Office deputies say he struck a deputy with his fists and feet, then fled on foot into a wooded area near Easton before K-9 teams tracked him down about a mile away. Randy Aaron Powell was wanted on an outstanding Montgomery County warrant when deputies spotted him coming out of Runway Liquors on August 29.
According to Eastern Shore Undercover, deputies attempted to arrest Powell on the warrant at the 24-hour convenience store and fuel station, which sits at 9543 Ocean Gateway directly across from Easton Airport, per the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce. Powell refused to pull over when deputies tried to stop him more than once, and he ultimately fled the scene on foot rather than submit to arrest, the outlet reports.
Deputies say Powell fought back during the encounter, striking a deputy with his fists and feet before running from the location. The Easton Police Department and Maryland State Police both assisted the Talbot County Sheriff's Office during the incident, and the Natural Resources Police NRP-1 aviation unit was also called in to help, per the same account.
K-9 Track Ends in Wooded Hideout
With Powell out of sight, a Talbot County Sheriff's Office K-9 team picked up his trail. The county's K-9 Unit, re-established in 2015, fields five specialized handler teams trained in narcotics detection and human scent tracking and has logged more than 600 deployments across the county, according to the Talbot County Sheriff's Office. That tracking capability led deputies to Powell, who was found hiding in a wooded area about a mile from where the chase began.
The chase adds to a run of similar incidents along the Ocean Gateway corridor. In May, Talbot County deputies pursued a pair of suspects who fled on foot from a traffic stop near Cambridge, a case Hoodline covered in detail that also ended in resisting arrest and assault charges.
Charges Pile Up as Warrant Distance Raises Questions
Powell now faces charges including assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstruction and hindering, fleeing and eluding, and several traffic offenses, the outlet notes. Deputies also say Powell had ridden a motor scooter several times in violation of the law leading up to the encounter. Maryland Vehicle Law requires scooters operated on public highways to be titled with an official MVA decal and ridden by someone holding a valid license or moped permit while wearing protective headgear, according to Genuine Scooters.
The Montgomery County warrant that first drew deputies' attention to Powell was issued roughly 80 miles away in Rockville, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, per Rome2Rio. The nature of that original warrant has not been detailed in available reporting.
Powell was taken to the Talbot County Central Booking Facility for processing following his arrest. He had an initial appearance before a district court commissioner, who held him on no bond, and on August 31 Judge James Charles McKinney ordered him continued and held without bond. McKinney, a former District Administrative Judge for Maryland's District 3, regularly serves as a recalled senior judge presiding over Talbot County District Court proceedings, according to the Maryland Manual On-Line.
What the Charges Could Mean
The most serious charge Powell faces, assault on a police officer, is classified under Maryland Criminal Law § 3-203(c) as a felony when it results in physical injury, carrying up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Fleeing and eluding a uniformed officer under Maryland Transportation Code § 21-904 is a misdemeanor that can bring up to a year in prison, a $1,000 fine, and 12 points on a driving record for a first offense. Resisting arrest under Maryland Criminal Law § 9-408 carries a maximum of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Whether the deputy's injuries meet the statutory threshold for the felony assault charge, and whether additional citations will be filed over the scooter's registration status, remain open questions. As with all individuals mentioned in this article, Powell is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
