A mother of four was killed when a driver fleeing a traffic stop slammed into her vehicle Friday night in Landover, Maryland, injuring her daughter and ripping a family apart.
Loved ones told News4 Patricia Riddick was killed when a black Genesis slammed into her SUV at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Highway and Belle Haven in Landover, Maryland.
“She was three minutes away from home….” said Crystal Bandy, Riddick’s mother-in-law. “Three minutes. It was the worst three minutes of our life.”
Disturbing surveillance video captured the moment four children lost their mother.
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Investigators said the driver of the Genesis had taken off from a traffic stop earlier and was being chased by Prince George's County police officers.
“It’s just hard,” Bandy said. “It’s not fair.”
She said Riddick had just picked up her daughter and was on her way home.
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“The worst nightmare of our life,” she said. “And to me, I'm just waiting for somebody to pinch me and say it’s not, it’s just a dream, it’s not real.”
Days after the deadly crash, dozens of friends and family members gathered in Anacostia Park to remember the 34-year-old. Loved ones described her as a fun-loving and devoted mother.
“She loved her kids,” said family member Dena Wynn. “Like she would have laid down her own life for her children, her family.”
They said the moving memorial filled with candles and black and purple balloons comes as the family deals with another devastating tragedy in just over a year.
“Last year was a rough year for us because she lost both of her kids’ fathers… We’re broken. We have a 14-year-old, we have an 8-year-old, we have a 7-year-old and we have a 4-year-old that don’t have no parents…” Bandy said. “She was their everything.”
At last update, a rep for the Maryland Attorney General's office did not comment on the investigation, and there was no word on the charges the driver of the Genesis will face.
'You can stop': Police chief asked about three deadly crashes linked to pursuits
Reporters asked Prince George's County police on Monday about three police pursuits in the past month that led to deadly crashes, including the one that killed Riddick.
A 3-year-old girl died and others were injured when a driver trying to speed away from police hit four cars in Capitol Heights on March 7, authorities said.
A mother of two waiting for a bus on her way home was hit and killed on East-West Highway as Hyattsville police followed a suspect who fled a traffic stop on Feb. 28.
Prince George’s Police Chief Malik Aziz said his answer is clear.
“The police put the red and blues on you, stop. There's not a whole lot of discussion on that. I don't even know how to expound even further on that,” he said. “The police get behind you, those little things that spin red and blue says they're taking an action to stop you. You can stop. That is in your control, to stop.”
