Tree Kills Motorcyclist Near Davidsonville, Police Say

DAVIDSONVILLE, MD — Authorities said a motorcyclist was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle Tuesday afternoon near Davidsonville. A tree company had been removing trees from a wooded area off Patuxent River Road at the time of the crash, police said, around 3:50 p.m.

Michael Anthony Morales, 51, of the 4000 block of Sands Road in Harwood, was pronounced deceased at the scene, officials reported.

Morales had been headed south on Patuxent River Road on his 2012 BMW R1200 at the time of the collision, according to investigators.

Police said the primary cause of the fatal crash was a tree falling into the road onto Morales on southbound Patuxent River Road near Darcey Lane.

Loveville Timberworks, a business based out of Mechanicsville, had been clearing trees from the northbound side of Patuxent River Road when the tree being removed fell in the opposite direction intended and hit the motorcycle, authorities reported.

The body of Morales was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. The Anne Arundel County Police Department's Traffic Safety Section is handing the investigation.

Police said that neither alcohol nor speed was believed to have been a factor in the crash.

Photo courtesy of Anne Arundel Police Department.