Defendant's story too slick for police

Montgomery man pleads guilty in case of oil spread on exit ramp

A 34-year-old Montgomery County man accused of spreading oil on an interstate exit ramp to make police cars wreck pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Monday that could lead to a 90-day sentence, with permission to leave incarceration to work during the day.

Jonathan W. Crane, who holds a master's degree in financial management, was the subject of detailed and bizarre police allegations starting last year related to late night conduct along a Montrose Road exit ramp off Interstate 270. Officers regularly take that ramp to a Rockville troopers' station and a county jail. Authorities have said Crane had a vendetta against police after he was cited for traffic violations in 2007, including one in the area of the ramp.

In a brief interview Monday after he pleaded guilty to attempted reckless endangerment, Crane said that not all accusations against him should be believed. And he indicated that he hoped to put the matter behind him.

"I want to be a productive and contributing member to society," he said.

Circuit Court Judge John W. Debelius set Crane's sentencing hearing for Nov. 13. Attorney David Grover will have a chance to tell more of Crane's side of the story then. He said Crane never had a grudge against any police officers.

Grover intends to ask that Crane serve his sentence at Montgomery's Pre-Release Center, which allows inmates to leave during the day for work.

Montgomery prosecutor Paul Zmuda said he would not oppose the request. In court Monday, Zmuda outlined police testimony that he would have presented had the case gone to trial. Along with earlier allegations from police, Zmuda presented this timeline:

On Oct. 2, 2008, just after midnight, Montgomery County Officer Scott Carson took the Montrose Road ramp, slowed his cruiser because of a reported oil slick and saw a man standing on a hill near a cellphone tower. The person turned out to be Crane, who had a forearm covered with fresh oil and a confusing story about how it got there, according to Carson's charging statement filed in the court record. Crane told Carson he got the oil on his arm while working on a friend's car and afterward went to a computer store and a bar.

"Carson asked Crane why he wouldn't clean the oil from his arm if he was going shopping and to a bar and Crane stated that he had forgotten," Carson wrote.

The officer learned that four hours earlier, a colleague's cruiser had gone out of control on the ramp and spun into a curb. While talking to Crane, Carson found Crane's car parked about 50 yards from the ramp with the engine off. Carson obtained charges of reckless endangerment and other offenses against Crane, who later was released from custody.

On March 13, Montgomery Police Officer Michael Polcsa was driving on the ramp when he saw Crane carrying a container, Zmuda said in court Monday. The officer got out and approached Crane, who was no longer holding the container, Zmuda said.

"Officer Polcsa asked Mr. Crane what he was doing on the offramp," Zmuda said. "Mr. Crane stated that he was looking for hubcaps his friend 'Bengie' had lost." The officer found two containers of Super Tech SAE 30 Bar and Chain oil at the scene, along with Crane's 1989 Mercedes-Benz parked in a "covert" spot where someone could see cars coming around the ramp, police said.

"Mr. Crane indicated that he had been drinking but that his friend 'Bengie' had been driving the vehicle," Zmuda added in court. "An individual by the name 'Bengie' was not found during the time of this incident."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.