Man dies in car accident

Woman also injured in Dunkirk crash

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by Kristopher Connor The scene of an accident Saturday, June 9, at Route 260 and Jewell Road in Dunkirk. A man was killed and a woman seriously injured in the wreck. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

According to police, Herbert N. Cooper pulled out of Jewell Road in front of another car, and the car hit the Coopers’ on Route 260 at about 7:34 p.m.

Sheriff Mike Evans said Cooper, 84, of Friendship died at the scene from injuries sustained in the accident. Cooper’s wife Alva, 77, also of Friendship was flown by Maryland State Police medevac helicopter Trooper 2 to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, Cooper drove his 1996 Ford Crown Victoria across Route 260 into oncoming traffic when the car was hit by a 2001 Chevy Malibu traveling West on Route 260.

Alva Cooper suffered serious injuries to her head and chest and possibly has a broken hip as a result of the accident, according to Evans.

The driver of the Malibu, Sandra M. Montgomery, 22, of Waldorf was taken to Calvert Memorial Hospital by the North Beach Volunteer Fire Department, according to the release.

Cooper is the fifth accident fatality on Calvert roads in less than two months. The first fatal accident of 2007 occurred April 26 when Mary Frances Bock died as a result of injuries incurred after a tractor-trailer hit her PT Cruiser, pushing it into a truck on Route 4 in Huntingtown.

‘‘Three of our five fatalities this year were alcohol or drug involved,” said Calvert Traffic Safety Council Coordinator Debbie Jennings.

In May, three men were killed in crashes caused by alcohol or drug impairment. Harold Lloyd Jerew, 47 and Travon Holloway, 19 were killed in two separate accidents within days of each other.

The Jerew accident was caused after the motorcycle Jerew was driving was hit by a driver allegedly under the influence of marijuana. Jennings said Holloway was impaired when his motorcycle hit two cars, ejecting and killing him..

The third, Christopher Jeremy Edson, 35, died after hitting a tree with his truck.

Police also determined his accident was due to impairment.

Jennings said she has not heard if the Edson accident was caused by alcohol or drug impairment.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, according to Evans.

E-mail Heather Dykstra at hdykstra@somdnews.com¼.