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       A 19-year-old with a history of high-speed and reckless driving purposely swerved into a Montgomery County police officer on Interstate 270 on Wednesday morning, nearly killing the officer who had gotten out of his cruiser to set up tire-piercing “stop sticks” to slow the driver down, according to police officials.

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       The officer, Sgt. Patrick Kepp, 36, “has lost the use of both of his legs,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones, calling him “really just a phenomenal person.”

       Kepp was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, according to a police union official.

       “He is not alone,” Jones said, “and he is surrounded by his family, his friends, and his co-workers.”

       Raphael Mayorga, of Frederick, had been driving faster than 110 mph in the moments before the collision, Jones said. Mayorga continued driving after striking Kepp but was stopped a short time later by another officer who deployed stop sticks, Jones said.

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       Mayorga was charged with first-degree attempted murder and was being held Wednesday evening at the Montgomery County Detention Center. It was not clear if he had retained an attorney.

       “He intentionally struck Sgt. Kepp,” Jones said, adding that the officer had been “willing to put himself in harm’s way in order to try to get this guy off the street.”

       Mayorga is expected to make his first court appearance Thursday.

       His driving immediately before the collision, as described by Jones, mirrored earlier cases detailed in Montgomery County District Court records.

       “This driver is known to us from several incidents that we have encountered him in the past,” Jones said. “Sergeant Kepp has been well-versed in this individual’s driving activities throughout the past few years. The driver has been known to provoke officers into chasing him, particularly on our major roadways here in the county. ... This is what he does. He does this intentionally to bait officers into chasing him as if this is some sort of a video game.”

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       Kepp himself arrested Mayorga several months ago, Jones said, citing him for traffic offenses that included driving 136 mph in a 55 mph zone on I-270.

       Wednesday morning, around 3:30 a.m., Montgomery County officers began monitoring a Dodge Challenger speeding on Interstate 270, police said. The car was seen driving one way, exiting the highway and then driving in the other direction.

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       “This individual continued to get off the ramp of the interstate, turn around, go back the opposite direction, still driving at a very high rate of speed,” Jones said.

       Officers held off trying to apprehend the car, Jones said, until it nearly ran another motorist off the road.

       It was at that point, Jones said, that Kepp and a commander decided to employ the stop sticks. After striking Kepp, the car continued north until it was stopped after a different officer set up another set of stop sticks.

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       Lee Holland, the president of Montgomery County’s police union — the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 — said the injured officer was taken to the shock trauma center in Baltimore.

       Last Friday, Sgt. Patrick Kepp received for the second time the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP)’s 24th Annual Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention. This award recognizes outstanding commitment in the fight against impaired driving. pic.twitter.com/tp3Ado8S5i

       — Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) December 15, 2021

       Fellow officers had gathered at the hospital Wednesday morning in support of their colleague, Holland said.

       “This just shows the risk that officers face every day,” Holland said. “A lot of people don’t think about it until something like this happens.”

       Kepp had been listed in critical condition Wednesday morning but seemed to improve as the day went on. A police spokeswoman, Shiera Goff, said Wednesday evening that he was “alert and talking.”

       Kepp served as a supervisor for the department’s Alcohol Initiatives Unit, which among other duties tries to get drunk drivers off roads. He has received the Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s Annual Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention at least twice, according to police officials.

       “We find ourselves praying for the recovery of one of our own,” Jones said.

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