(PIKESVILLE, MD) – Maryland State Police are identifying the trooper who fatally wounded an impaired driving suspect on I-95 as the trooper was being dragged in an attempt by the driver to flee the traffic stop.

The trooper is identified as Trooper First Class Robert Kreczmer, who is a three-year-veteran of the Maryland State Police and is assigned to patrol duties at the Waterloo Barrack.  The trooper remains on routine administrative leave as the investigation continues.

The trooper stopped a suspected impaired driver, Julio Cesar Moran-Ruiz, of Baltimore, just after 2:00 a.m. on August 28, 2020, on I-95 near Rt. 100.  According to the preliminary investigation, when the driver put the vehicle in drive, the trooper reached inside the vehicle in an attempt to stop him as the driver accelerated and drove away.

The trooper was dragged almost one-half mile down the interstate, during which time he repeatedly directed the driver to stop and warned him that he would shoot.  The trooper fired at the driver, fatally wounding him.

The investigation is continuing.