Annapolis, Md. – Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess announced today that Kanicsha Johnson, 35, of District Heights was sentenced to nine years of active incarceration and five years of supervised probation for two counts of causing life threatening injuries while under the influence of alcohol for injuring Andrew Oles and his wife, Amanda Ward, and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol while transporting a minor child.
The defendant pled guilty to the charges on August 10, 2021 and was sentenced on November 19, 2021.
“It’s clear that the defendant had absolutely no regard for the lives of other drivers on the road – or her own child - when she got behind the wheel of her vehicle with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit. Mr. Oles and his wife Ms. Ward are alive today because good Samaritans stopped to help them at the crash scene - a nurse and a firefighter came to their aid. Dr. Scalia and the trauma team at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma treated their extremely serious injuries. I am grateful that they are here to see the defendant held accountable for her crime,” said State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess.
Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas prosecuted this case on behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County.
On February 15, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. the defendant, later identified as Kanicsha Johnson, drove her a Nissan Murano southbound in the area of Aris T. Allen Blvd (MD 665) near Riva Rd. The defendant swerved and aggressively changed lanes and drove over a concrete curb, crossed a grassy median and entered the northbound lanes of Aris T. Allen Blvd., striking a Toyota Corolla head on which was traveling north in the left lane. The vehicle was occupied by the driver, Andrew Oles, and his wife Amanda Ward, who was sitting in the passenger front seat. The Toyota Corolla sustained extensive front-end damage causing Mr. Oles and Ms. Ward to be pinned inside the vehicle. Both had to be extricated from the vehicle by first responders. The Nissan Murano came to rest on its roof on the right side of the northbound roadway. The occupants of the Toyota Corolla suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash and were transported by helicopter to The R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland. As a result of the collision, the couple sustained several life-threatening injuries and their recovery lasted more than six months each. The defendant and her 2-year-old daughter, who was secured in a child safety seat, were taken to a local hospital by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.
The Honorable Robert J. Thompson presided over the case.