On August 15, 2019, at approximately 3:47 a.m. deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 35800 block of Bay Drive in Chaptico, for the reported motor vehicle collision. Upon arrival deputies located a single vehicle off the roadway, on fire. The operator and sole occupant of the vehicle was transported to a local trauma center with incapacitating injuries. The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene and continued the investigation.
Preliminary investigation determined a 1999 Ford Ranger operated by Garland Lawson Coleman, age 83 of Chaptico, was traveling northbound on Longview Road. For unknown reasons the vehicle continued through the intersection at Washington Avenue, through a field, and ultimately became disabled in a ditch alongside Bay Drive. Coleman was trapped in the vehicle which caught on fire.