SOUTHERN MARYLAND POLICE BEAT: Dangerous driver Gina Polo, with a history of reckless driving, speeding, passing stopped school bus and DWI wrecked in early morning crash on Rt. 235

SOUTHERN MARYLAND POLICE BEAT: Dangerous driver Gina Polo, with history of reckless driving, speeding, passing stopped school  bus and DWI wrecked in early morning crash on Rt. 235

CALIFORNIA, MD. – When a motorist manages to be pulled over by the elected Sheriff of St.  Mary’s County and issued a $570 ticket for passing a stopped school bus, that is a rare event, as the Sheriff’s normal activities do not include patrolling highways for dangerous and deadly drivers. The days of haunting the highways of St. Mary’s County while impaired and endangering school children by passing stopped school buses are going to be slowed down a bit as Gina Polo of Leonardtown mends from injuries incurred when she crashed on Rt. 235 on Feb. 18, 2019.

St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron reports that on February 18, 2019, at approximately 4:46 a.m. deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a single vehicle collision in the 22800 block of Three Notch Road, in the area of Miramar Way, in California, Maryland.  Upon arrival officers located the vehicle, with the operator trapped inside.

The operator, and sole occupant of the vehicle, was extricated and transported to an area hospital with incapacitating injuries. The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Collision Reconstruction Unit responded and continued the investigation.

Preliminary investigation determined a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe operated by Gina Marie Polo, 32 of 22400 Armstrong Drive, Leonardtown, Md., was traveling northbound on Three Notch Road when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree.  Polo was initially transported to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, and subsequently transported to Washington Hospital Center for further treatment. 

At this time, speed and weather appear to be contributing factors in the collision.  Anyone who witnessed the collision or events leading to the collision, is asked to contact Corporal Dale Reppel at (301) 475-4200 extension *8059, or by email at Dale.Reppel@stmarysmd.com.

• Polo entered a guilty plea to negligent driving on Aug. 7, 2008 in Charles County District Court and was fined $82.00.  A charge of DWI was dropped by Charles County States Attorney Anthony Covington as part of the plea deal.

• Polo  entered a guilty plea on Oct. 16, 2015, to DWI in St. Mary’s District Court after her arrest by Maryland State Trooper Casey Ruth. THE DEAL: In return for her guilty plea she was given a verdict of Probation Before Judgement with 30 days in jail, with ALL 30 days suspended and a fine of $200 in a deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz. Polo had the services of a free attorney, Amber Lynn Wetzel, paid for by the taxpayers whose lives she had put in danger.
• Polo has a pending date in St. Mary’s District Court for allegedly passing a stopped school bus which resulted in St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron issuing her a citation with a fine of $570 upon conviction. Polo was driving a 2005 Chevy SUV when she passed the bus which was stopped and flashing danger stop lights on Rt. 5 at Abell Street in Leonardtown, Md., at 2:42 pm on Jan. 1, 2019.