Man charged with threatening family of Cockeysville crash survivor with gun

A Timonium man was arrested Sunday evening after allegedly threatening and brandishing a semiautomatic gun at the family of Liam O’Donoghue, a 16-year-old Calvert Hall student who lost an arm in a car crash that killed two of his friends last month.

The man, Imtiaz Sami, 39, allegedly drove up to the O’Donoghues’ Springlake neighborhood around 5:45 p.m. Sunday and told a neighbor, WJZ anchor Rick Ritter, that it was a “shame” that Liam “got to survive” the crash, according to police charging documents.

Sami yelled curses at Liam’s mother, Fanya O’Donoghue, then said, “You don’t want to mess with me. I am armed,” according to the documents.

Sami then pulled out a black semiautomatic handgun, pulled back the slide, making an “audible click,” and pointed it at Ritter, the documents say.

Ritter, whose children were playing outside, then raised his hands and backed into his home, and Sami sped off, according to the documents.

Police arrived at Sami’s home on Hathaway Road around 11:15 p.m. Sunday with a search and seizure warrant and found 15 guns, ammunition and magazines scattered throughout the house, including on a couch, in a laundry room and in a bedroom closet, according to the documents.

Sami is charged with first- and second-degree assault and use of a handgun during the commission of a crime of violence.

A district court commissioner ordered him to be held without bond, and he is scheduled for a bail review hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

According to police, Sami reported that he works as a products manager for a financial consulting and asset management company. He stated that he’s divorced with two children.

Fanya O’Donoghue told police that she received threatening messages on Facebook from a person named “Sam Sami” shortly before the incident in front of her home, according to the documents. She also told police that she believes that Sami is the father of classmates of her children, according to the document.

Liam O’Donoghue was released from the hospital over the weekend after being severely injured in a May 1 crash at the intersection of Merrymans Mill and Poplar Hill roads in Timonium.

His friend, Ryan Duvall, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Another friend, Andrew Sober, 16, the driver of the vehicle, died six days after the crash. A fourth friend was also injured and survived.

O’Donoghue’s left arm was amputated in the crash and he broke both of his femurs. He spent weeks in Shock Trauma and a week at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital before returning home last week.