Late Friday night, Westminster, Maryland, was hit by heartbreak. Fifty-three-year-old David Comer was struck and killed by a car while attempting to cross westbound Baltimore Boulevard, and the shockwaves from his death have reverberated through his grieving community.
Troopers from the Maryland State Police’s Westminster Barrack responded around 9:45 p.m. to a crash near Gorsuch Road. According to the preliminary investigation, a 2014 Kia Optima driven by 18-year-old Bridget Dautermann of Westminster was traveling west in the first lane when two pedestrians ran from a grassy median into the roadway. David Comer was one of them — he stepped into the path of the vehicle and was struck.
Emergency responders from Carroll County EMS were called in, but tragically, David was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Dautermann, was not injured and stayed at the scene.
The second pedestrian was 24-year-old Zachary Comer, also from Westminster. Police believe he and David were father and son. After the crash, Zachary allegedly assaulted the passenger in the Kia, 18-year-old Edgar Herrera. Herrera was hospitalized, and Zachary was treated and is now facing possible charges, though investigators are still working through the details.
Maryland State Police shut down all lanes of Baltimore Boulevard for about three hours as crash investigators documented the scene, with help from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, Westminster Police, and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. The State Police Crash Team is now leading the ongoing investigation.
Local media reports shed a little more light: according to WBAL-TV, police believe David and Zachary may have been “playing a game of chicken” with traffic before the collision. Though not yet confirmed, impairment is reportedly under investigation.
The pain in Westminster is deep. What started as a momentary dash across the road ended in a devastating loss for a family — a father, cut down in an instant, and a son now facing both emotional trauma and legal scrutiny. Community members are left grappling with the “what ifs,” mourning a sudden void in their neighborhood.
As the investigation continues, there are more questions than answers, and a community longing for closure. May David Comer rest in peace, and may his family find the strength they need to face what comes next.
