CALIFORNIA, Md. (October, 21, 2011)—The Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore has identified the driver of an SUV who died in a fiery, lone-vehicle crash in Dunkirk on the morning of October 15. The operator of the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser was positively identified as Matthew Ryan Cwiek, a 19-year-old male resident of Owings. The man was so badly burned in the vehicle fire that identification on the scene was not possible.
The cause of death is pending the official autopsy report from the medical
examiner.
The preliminary police investigation revealed that a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser was traveling northbound on MD Route 4. Just prior to the intersection of MD Route 4 and Chaney Road the vehicle left the roadway and entered a grass shoulder. The vehicle continued in the northerly direction as it crossed Chaney Road. The vehicle entered private property and continued to travel off road until it collided with a tree in a full frontal impact. Shortly after colliding with the tree the vehicle caught fire.
Responding emergency crews found the vehicle off the roadway engulfed in flames. Members of the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Mr. Cwiek, who was the only occupant of the vehicle, sustained mortal trauma as a result of the collision and was pronounced dead on the scene.
The Calvert County Crash Reconstruction Team is continuing the investigation into the events that lead up to this collision. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Cpl. V. Bortchevsky of the CRT at 410-535-2800 or by e-mail at bortchvi@co.cal.md.us .