Flavio Cesar Lanuza, 27, of Laurel, received a 10-year prison sentence for leading police on a dramatic 30-mile chase in February.
The February incident involved Lanuza stealing a state highway assistance truck, ramming multiple vehicles, and injuring officers during a chase that was captured live by news helicopters. On Thursday, he was sentenced after pleading guilty in September to second-degree assault on law enforcement, fleeing police causing injury, and 11 counts of failing to remain at crash scenes.
The pursuit began on February 16, following a hit-and-run involving four vehicles on the Capital Beltway’s Inner Loop around 5 p.m. Police say Lanuza fled the crash, abandoned his car at a park-and-ride lot, and struck a guard rail. When a State Highway Administration vehicle arrived to assist, Lanuza stole it.
The 14,000-pound truck was described by Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy as “a tank,” used by Lanuza to hit over a dozen vehicles, including a Maryland State Police cruiser, injuring a trooper and pushing the vehicle over 50 feet. The chase stretched from College Park’s Interstate 95 to Route 29 and Lockwood Drive in Montgomery County.
During the pursuit, Lanuza drove over spike strips, eventually blowing a tire and driving on metal rims before losing control and stopping. Even after police cornered him, Lanuza resisted arrest, forcing officers to break the truck’s windows to detain him.
“This reckless behavior during rush hour endangered countless lives,” McCarthy said, expressing relief that no one else was seriously harmed.
Lanuza had already been sentenced in Prince George’s County on October 23 to two years for related crimes, including the theft of the highway truck.
