Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

By Kevin Litten

Senior staff writer

The family of a man struck and killed by a 22-year-old woman driving near University Courtyard is seeking witnesses in hopes that new evidence may breathe life into a stalled police investigation.

The woman, who is listed on a police report as having a Courtyard address, was driving along University Boulevard when she struck Alan Kobren, 45, who was jogging in a designated bike path on the shoulder, Kobren's brother Spencer said. The driver did not flee the scene.

Kobren was married to Knox Box apartments landlord Janet Firth, who rents more than 50 apartments to students each semester. Firth said Kobren had been helping her work on some of the apartments on June 17 and had gone jogging before he was to meet Firth and their 4-year-old son for dinner later that evening at a local restaurant.

"He kissed us good-bye, kissed our son good-bye and then went for a run," Firth said. When he didn't show up for dinner, "that's when I started driving looking for him," she said.

Firth came upon the scene on University Boulevard shortly after Kobren's approximately 7 p.m. death. Prince George's County Police had pronounced him dead on arrival and identified the driver of a black Honda Civic as responsible for hitting him, police spokeswoman Cpl. Debbi Carlson said.

But Kobren's brother Spencer has grown increasingly frustrated with the police investigation, which Carlson said is still open, because no charges have been filed against the woman, nor has she been cleared of wrongdoing.

"My issue is that I need answers and my family needs answers, and we're not getting answers fast enough," Spencer said. "I wish [police] were more expeditious. I wish the investigation would yield more worthwhile information. If you hit somebody with a car and kill them, that person should be investigated thoroughly at the scene."

Carlson, who could not confirm whether the driver was a student, said the woman was questioned extensively on the scene and has been "fully cooperative" in subsequent interviews with investigators. The investigation has stalled, Carlson said, because a number of witnesses left the scene before police arrived.

"Someone had to have seen something," Carlson said. "For someone to be driving along and not see something like that take place, we find that hard to believe."

She added that charges could be filed at the close of the investigation, but police have little information on the incident without the help of witnesses.

Spencer, who has hired a private investigator and set up the website www.helpalan.com, is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver who struck and killed his brother.

"I would like nothing better than to see this woman convicted of a crime if she committed one," Spencer said. "Nothing's going to bring my brother back, but I want to make sure no families have to go through what we've gone through."

Anyone with information about this case should call the Prince George's County Accident Reconstruction Unit at (301) 731-4422.

Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com.Man'

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