Church Hill Man Arrested After Vehicle Pursuit and K9 Search

Queen Anne's County, MD - A Church Hill man was arrested on March 13, 2026, after deputies attempted to stop a vehicle with suspended registration in the Grasonville area.

According to authorities, DFC Kendall was on Main Street in Grasonville when another deputy alerted him to a license plate recognition reader hit on a vehicle with suspended registration. Dispatch later confirmed the registration was suspended and that the Maryland Vehicle Administration had issued a pick-up tag order for the vehicle.

Deputies also learned the vehicle was registered to the home of Joseph Palmer Jr., 31, of Church Hill. Palmer was known to deputies to have several active arrest warrants. Multiple deputies responded to the area of Fallen Horse Circle. Palmer was then seen driving from Nesbit Road onto Main Street without coming to a complete stop.

Sgt. Patchett initiated a traffic stop. Instead of stopping, the vehicle accelerated and traveled at a high rate of speed down Main Street and onto Wilson Road. The attempted stop was later terminated after the driver began traveling off the roadway and through the backyards of nearby homes.

A short time later, DFC Kendall located the vehicle turning onto Sawmill Road. While canvassing the area, he found fresh tire tracks leading through a yard and around the back of a property. He then saw Palmer fleeing on foot into a heavily wooded area.

Law enforcement established a perimeter, and both a K9 team and drone team responded to assist with the search. DFC Colburn deployed K9 Splash, who tracked Palmer's location a short time later. Palmer was then taken into custody.

After the arrest, a K9 air sniff of the vehicle was conducted and resulted in a positive alert.

During a probable cause search of the vehicle, deputies located various controlled dangerous substances and CDS paraphernalia. Authorities also found two fraudulent out-of-state licenses that displayed Palmer's image.

Palmer was served arrest warrants for attempt by driver to elude uniformed police by failing to stop, attempt by driver to elude police in an official police vehicle by fleeing on foot, reckless driving, negligent driving, driving on a suspended license, and failure to appear.

He was also charged and cited with multiple additional offenses, including two counts of CDS possession not cannabis, CDS possession paraphernalia, two counts of possessing or using a false government ID document, driving a vehicle on a highway with suspended registration, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving at a speed greater than reasonable and prudent, failure to obey a properly placed traffic control device, driving without the required license and authorization, driving on a suspended license and privilege, driving while suspended due to failure to attend a driver improvement program, negligent driving, reckless driving, failure to drive to the curb upon signal by police, failure to stop upon approach by a police vehicle using signals, failure to yield the right-of-way to a police vehicle using signals, failure to give a continuous turn signal during the last 100 feet before turning, knowingly driving an uninsured vehicle, and failure to display a license to a uniformed police officer on demand.

Disclosure: All individuals mentioned in this article are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Eastern Shore Undercover® does not express or imply any opinion regarding the incident reported.