Crime & Safety

Driver in Fatal Wreck Has Trial Postponed

Prosecution's investigation needed more time.

The trial for Kevin Coffay, the 20-year-old who allegedly fled from the scene of a fatal car wreck in May, has been bumped back to December.

Seth Zucker, a spokesman for the State's Attorney's Office, said the trail which was originally scheduled for tomorrow was continued and will be held on Dec. 12.

"They needed more time to investigate," he said, referring to the State's Attorney's Office.

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Coffay is charged with failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving injury, failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving death, failure to render reasonable assistance to an injured person, failure to report bodily injury to police, and attempting to elude uniformed police by fleeing on foot.

Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy appeared at Coffay's in May and argued to have his bail remain set at $500,000.

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The judge ultimately reduced the bond to 10 percent, or $50,000, and Coffay was released from jail the next day.

McCarthy said before the crash, Coffay had attended several parties.

The crash happened minutes after 3 a.m. on May 15 on Olney-Laytonsville Road at the intersection with Volunteer Road and .

Haeley N. McGuire, 18, of the 5600 block of Artesian Drive in Derwood, was taken to a MedStar hospital in Columbia, where she was pronounced dead.

Spencer Datt, 18, of the 5700 block of Sunrise Hill Road in Derwood, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He was the passenger in the car’s right front seat.

John Hoover, 20, of the 5800 block of Rolling Drive in Derwood, was taken to Montgomery General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was the passenger in the center rear seat.

Charles Anthony Nardella, 19, of the 7700 block of Shady Brook Lane in the Hadley Farms community next to Montgomery Village, was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was the passenger in the car’s left rear seat.

McGuire was a senior at Magruder High, said Dana Tofig, a county schools spokesman. The other occupants of the car graduated from Magruder in 2009 and 2010, Tofig said.

After the crash, Coffay got out of the car and fled through the woods, the charging documents state.

A police K-9 unit tracked him for 2.5 hours, twice spotting him before Coffay fled again, the documents state. He ended up at the home of a friend, who drove him to his mother's home in the 16700 block of Cutlass Drive in Rockville.

There he was met by police, who arrested him in his driveway, McCarthy said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.