A Howard County Police officer, a Clarksburg man he’d arrested and a driver who hit them were all hospitalized Sunday morning after an early morning crash in Mount Airy.

According to Maryland State Police, just before 2 a.m. Sunday, Officer Richard M. Romberger Jr., 43, of the Howard County Police Department was stopped on Rt. 144 near Griffith Road in Mount Airy. He had just taken Matthew J. Griffis, 27, of the 24000-block of Burnt Hill Road in Clarksburg, into custody for fleeing from the scene of an earlier accident, when the two were struck by a passing car.

The driver of that car, a 2000 Volvo S-70, was Ricky A. Epperson, 25, of the 7800-block of East Hill Road in Mount Airy.

Police said Epperson also struck a Maryland State Police patrol car and a Howard County Police patrol car, both of which had their emergency lights on at the time.

All three men were flown by Maryland State Police helicopters to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment. They were released Sunday, said Greg Shipley, state police spokesman.

The crash was still under investigation Monday morning and charges are pending, Shipley said. @gazette.net