A father of five has been killed after a 13-year-old boy driving a stolen car with six other teenagers inside slammed into his vehicle, according to police.
The crash occurred shortly after 5am on Tuesday at an intersection in Germantown, Maryland, a community just north of Washington, DC.
William Vance Payne II, 58, had been driving to work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he worked as a mechanical engineer and was close to retiring, his family said.
With just 10 minutes left in his drive, Payne’s Toyota Matrix was struck by a stolen white Kia Optima with seven teenagers inside, including four girls aged 14, 14, 13 and 12, and three boys aged 15, 13 and 12, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.
By the time emergency personnel responded to the scene of the crash at 5.25am, Payne was already dead. The vehicles had suffered ‘extensive damage,’ police said.
The juveniles, whose identities were not disclosed, were transported to several trauma centers in the area. The 13-year-old driver of the Kia was in critical but stable condition, police said.
Footage of the crash scene taken by NBC Washington shows Payne’s Toyota with severe damage to its broadsides and the white Kia flipped upside down.
No arrests were made immediately after the crash. The Montgomery County Department of Police Collision Reconstruction Unit’s investigation into the collision may take several weeks to months to complete, police said.
Father-of-five William Vance Payne II, 58, was killed in a devastating car crash in Maryland on Tuesday morning while driving to work
Payne was struck by a stolen Kia driven by a 13-year-old with six other teenagers inside, police said. The father is pictured with three of his children and his wife, Lisa
Footage of the crash shows Payne’s Toyota Matrix with severe damage to its broadsides
The footage also shows the Kia flipped over. Its juvenile occupants were transferred to local trauma centers
Charges in the case will be determined by the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office after it is presented with evidence.
A witness had gone to a police station in person to report that a vehicle was driving erratically in the area, but by the time they told police, the crash had already occurred, NBC Washington reported.
The Kia with the seven teenagers inside was reported stolen a few hours after the crash.
Montgomery County Police Officer Shiera Goff told NBC Washington that several of the juveniles in the stolen car were not wearing their seatbelts, and some were sitting on each other’s laps.
‘At this age, they’re not supposed to be driving. You do not have a license at the age of 15. Right now, I would say, parents, just make sure you know where your children are,’ Goff told the outlet.
Payne had worked for NIST for 29 years, most recently as a mechanical engineer in the Equipment Performance Group of the Building Energy and Environment Division of the Engineering Laboratory, according to his profile on the NIST website.
His work focused on making residential heat pumps and air conditioning units more efficient and reliable.
‘Our thoughts are with Vance’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time,’ a statement NIST shared with NBC Washington said in part.
Payne had three young children, including two girls and a boy, as well as two adult daughters. He worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Payne was an employee at NIST for 29 years and was close to retirement. He is pictured with his wife and three of his children
An online fundraiser for Payne’s family described the mechanical engineer as a ‘loving, funny, patient, and dedicated family man’
Payne leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and five children, including two adult daughters, two young daughters and a young son, according to a GoFundMe organized to support his family.
The mechanical engineer was described as a ‘loving, funny, patient, and dedicated family man’ on the fundraiser page.
Thefts of certain 2010 to 2021 Kia models have surged in recent years after a TikTok trend exposing the ease with which they could be stolen due to a critical design flaw went viral around 2022.
Insurance companies in 2023 received over ten times more Kia and Hyundai theft claims than the three previous years after social media videos showed the cars being stolen and driven haphazardly by joyriders as young as 12.
In May 2023, Kia and Hyundai agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit worth around $200 million over the rampant car thefts.
Although the settlement brought free hardware retrofits to owners in an attempt to reduce the carjackings, police still encourage physical steering wheel locks and software updates as the problem continues to persist in 2026.
