EDGEWOOD, MD—A tractor-trailer driver has been arrested after fleeing from police on Interstate 95 and traveling in the wrong direction for nearly eight miles.

The driver has been identified as Maurice Cooper, 37, of Haverhill, Florida. Cooper was taken into police custody on Monday afternoon without incident.

Cooper faces the following charges: attempted second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, assault of a law enforcement officer, theft, and other related traffic charges. Cooper is currently awaiting an initial appearance before a court commissioner in Harford County.

At just 12:30 p.m. on Monday, state troopers responded to the Maryland House Travel Plaza for a reported theft. Upon arrival, troopers spoke to a male victim who told police his jacket and keys were stolen while inside the travel plaza. The victim told police that the suspect was the driver of a specific tractor-trailer.

While the victim was talking with police, personnel from the MDTA Police, who happened to be in the area, advised of a tractor-trailer exiting the travel plaza on the wrong side. The tractor-trailer was traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-95, driving against traffic.

Troopers pursued the tractor-trailer in an attempt to stop the driver while calling to request reinforcements. Police followed the tractor-trailer from the southbound lanes of I-95 while other patrol cars traveled northbound on I-95 toward the tractor trailer.

After about three miles, the driver stopped the tractor-trailer on the fast shoulder in an active work zone where several highway workers were conducting roadwork. A trooper exited his vehicle and climbed onto the passenger side step of the tractor trailer.

Through an open passenger side window, the trooper made several verbal requests for the driver to shift the truck into park and hand over his keys. The driver then accelerated into the northbound lanes of I-95, again traveling southbound against northbound traffic.

As the driver continued to accelerate, the trooper was subsequently thrown from the truck onto the highway. The trooper suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene.

The driver continued to drive against traffic for approximately four more miles and crossed all lanes of northbound I-95 to the slow shoulder into a construction zone where he made a U-turn and continued north on I-95. An off-duty police officer then followed the tractor-trailer as it exited off of I-95.

A helicopter from the Baltimore County Police Department responded to assist and located the tractor-trailer as it pulled into a motel parking lot in the 1700-block of Edgewood Road in Edgewood. The driver then fled on foot into a wooded area behind the motel.

Troopers established a perimeter with the assistance of deputies from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. During the search of the area, police-along with a K-9 from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office-tracked the suspect. The suspect, later identified as Cooper was located and taken into custody without incident.

Police received numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting the tractor-trailer driving against traffic on I-95. There were no reported crashes due to the tractor trailer driving against traffic nor were any injuries sustained during the incident.

Any witnesses to the incident are asked to contact the Maryland State Police – JFK Highway Memorial Barrack at 410-537-1150.