Case dropped against diplomat’s son

Montgomery County State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler yesterday determined that a diplomat’s son accused of carjacking, assault and robbery in a Silver Spring parking lot will not face criminal charges.

Charges were dropped against Thomas K. Kollie, 18, because investigators were unable to link him to any crime. Three victims identified Mr. Kollie as one of 13 persons who attacked them on Jan. 2 in a Silver Spring parking lot. Police said the attackers threw bottles at the victim’s Honda Accord, breaking out all the windows. When a man approached the victims with a knife, they fled on foot. One attacker then got into the car and rammed it into two parked cars in the lot.

“We identified Mr. Kollie as being at the scene, but merely being at the scene does not make a person criminally culpable,” Mr. Gansler said.

“We have no evidence that connects Mr. Kollie to getting into the car or wielding the knife,” he said.

Police think the victims might have been involved in a fight earlier in the night with three of the attackers.

Mr. Kollie was released from jail on Jan. 2 after it was learned that he was entitled to diplomatic immunity because his father is charge d’affaires at the Liberian Embassy in Washington.

Two others men — David Alvarado, 19, of Silver Spring, and Bryan Boley, 17, of Takoma Park — were arrested in connection with the attack, but the victims were unable to give police a description for the other 10.

Officials at the State Department had asked the State’s Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges against Mr. Kollie could be considered serious enough to request that Liberia waive diplomatic immunity.

“After a thorough review of the evidence, including interviewing witnesses, the State’s Attorney’s Office has determined that the evidence does not support the charges of robbery and carjacking against Mr. Kollie or the other two men arrested,” the official statement from the State’s Attorney’s office said.

“The brief taking of the victims’ car, once they had fled the scene, does not appear to have been the motive for the altercation, but instead related to the suspects’ intent to damage the victims’ car.”

The prosecutor insisted that the State Department did not try to get him to drop the case.

“There was absolutely no pressure whatsoever from the State Department on this issue,” Mr. Gansler said.

Charges might be pressed against Mr. Alvarado and Mr. Boley, but they will not be charged for carjacking or robbery. The State’s Attorney’s Office still is reviewing the case.

This article is based in part on wire service reports.