Crofton teen pulled from wreck

ABOVE: A Volkswagen GTI lays upside down at the bottom of an embankment off Aris T. Allen Boulevard last night. The car ignited after the 10:25 p.m. crash, but a county police officer was able to extinguish the flames. Both driver and passenger were flown to a regional shock trauma hospital after being rescued.

BELOW: City & County firefighters hoist Brandon Blank, 17, of Crofton, over a wall after he was rescued at the crash site.

A car caught fire after plunging down a 60-foot embankment outside Annapolis and a speeding driver caused a chain-reaction crash on Route 50 in separate accidents overnight that sent five people to area hospitals.

The first crash occurred about 10:25 p.m. when a 2002 Volkswagen GTI heading west on Aris T. Allen Boulevard went off the road for an unknown reason around a right curve, spun around, hit a curb and flipped over the guardrail past Chinquapin Round Road, according Officer Charles Ravenell, county police spokesman.

The car plunged down the embankment on its hood before landing upside down and catching fire, police said.

Though passenger Brandon Blank, 17, of Crofton was able to pull himself out before losing consciousness, Owen Boyle, 18, of Crofton was trapped in the burning vehicle, according to Lt. Frank Fennell, a county Fire Department spokesman.

A county police officer quickly arrived and headed down the steep terrain of loose rocks and dirt to reach the car and extinguish the blaze, Lt. Fennell said. The name of the officer was not available.

Soon after, about 33 county and city firefighters responded with ladder trucks, fire engines and ambulances and rigged a hoist and pulley system to raise Mr. Blank up the embankment and swing him over to the road, Lt. Fennell said.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to free Mr. Boyle, who was disoriented and unable to move from the waist down, Lt. Fennell said. Both were flown by state police helicopters to the Shock Trauma Center at University Hospital in Baltimore.

Mr. Blank was in critical but stable condition this morning while Mr. Boyle was in serious condition at the hospital, a spokesman said.

"Had the police car not got there and (the officer) extinguished the fire, it could have been much graver results," Lt. Fennell said.

Police shut down portions of Aris T. Allen Boulevard for about 90 minutes during the rescue, he said. Police were still investigating the cause of the crash this morning.