Police: Suicidal Motorist from Westminster Kills Reisterstown Woman, Hospitalizes Self in Crash

A Reisterstown woman was killed Tuesday night after a motorist threatening to kill himself crashed into her car on Reisterstown Road in front of Franklin High School.

Martha Tabares, 74, of the 900 block of Shirley Manor Road in Reisterstown, was pronounced dead at the scene. The motorist threatening suicide, 20-year-old Nicholas Frederick Mottley, of the 600 block of Wilmont Road in Westminster, was transported to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries. His condition was unknown Wednesday morning, according to a police press release.

At 8:13 p.m. Tuesday, Baltimore County Police responded to I-795 southbound between Owings Mills Boulevard and I-695. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office warned police that a man driving a maroon Chevrolet Traverse who was threatening “suicide by cop” was headed to Baltimore County, the release said.

Police found the vehicle in the Walmart parking lot, at 9750 Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills. The motorist hit a police vehicle and drove westbound on Reisterstown Road. Police briefly pursued the Traverse until the chase called off by the precinct shift commander the release said.

“It was too fast,” said police spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

There are risks to officers and other motorists in chases, Armacost said. Police never lost track of Mottley, she said.

Minutes after the pursuit was called off, the Traverse crossed the center line on Reisterstown Road in front of Franklin High School, striking an eastbound Toyota Corolla driven by Tabares, the release said.

The Traverse kept moving, hitting a Chrysler Town & Country van and a utility pole, finally coming to rest about 40 feet from the pole, the release said.

The van received minor damage and its driver was not injured, the release said.

The Baltimore County Police’s crash team is investigating the collision involving the three vehicles, and the Franklin Precinct is conducting the investigation involving the Traverse hitting the police vehicle in the Walmart parking lot. Charges against Mottley are pending those investigations, police said.

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