Speed blamed for death of Barry Dale Whittington Jr. on country road at 3 am
COMPTON, MD. — What happens in that magic hour after the bars close in St. Mary’s County? Generally it’s a bad time to be standing in front of tree or near a ditch along the county’s roadways as speeding vehicles find this to be prime time to leave the roadway.
St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron reports that on May 9th at 3:00 AM, Corporal Joe Lee Somerville Jr. was conducting a premise check at the Exxon Dash Inn located at Rt. 5 and Md. 243 when a citizen informed him of an overturned vehicle on Newtowne Neck Road in the area of Rosebank Road.
Deputies’ report that Cpl. Somerville searched the area and located a Ford F-150 overturned resting in a ditch on its roof. The driver, and sole occupant, identified as Barry Dale Whittington, Jr., age 32, of Leonardtown, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene and assumed the investigation. The preliminary investigation indicated the truck was traveling northbound on Newtowne Neck Road. For unknown reasons, the truck left the roadway as it approached Rosebank Road. The truck then traveled along a ditch before striking a culvert and overturning. Speed is believed to be a factor in the crash.
Anyone with information regarding this crash is asked to call Deputy C. Beyer at 301.475.4040. The investigation is ongoing and additional information will be released as it is developed.
Ironically, Whittington, a native of Front Royal, Virginia, had been twice cited for failing to wear a seat belt. Once in 2013 while operating a vehicle on Rt. 235 in Hollywood by a Maryland State Trooper.
The most recent time he was cited for failing to be restrained by a seatbelt he was stopped by Maryland State Trooper N. Gresko on June 22, 2014 at Bayside Road and Lady Baltimore Ave., just about a mile from where he crashed and died.
Southern Md. Police Beat: Speed blamed for death of Barry Dale Whittington Jr. on country road at 3 am
