69-year-old Bowie woman identified as victim killed after suspect fled traffic stop

A 69-year-old woman from Bowie was identified as the woman killed in a collision with a man who fled from a traffic stop on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The woman, Deborah Saffran, was driving on the 12800 block of Ninth Street when a suspect police had attempted to pull over moments earlier crossed the double yellow lines and crashed into her vehicle, according to a news release from the Prince George’s County Police Department.

The suspect, who was not named, was injured and was in the hospital Thursday, the news release said.

The suspect initially pulled over on Lanham Severn Road and Driscoll Drive around 2:45 p.m. in connection with an open investigation, police said, but fled shortly after. A supervisor told officers to stop any attempts to pursue the driver, according to the news release.

The driver’s vehicle collided with Saffran’s about half a mile down the road, police said.

Assistant Chief George Nichols did not say what the open investigation was related to, but he said during a news conference that it did not meet the criteria for a police pursuit, which include “murders, robberies and serious assaults.”

A third, uninvolved vehicle was struck in the incident, but no one was injured.

The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division and Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit are investigating.