Road Worker Hit By Drunk Driver Dies: Police

SEVERN, MD — A Baltimore road construction worker hit by a car in a work zone on July 26 died from his injuries on Sunday, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Worker Walter I. Gonzalez-Lopez, 56, of Baltimore died at Maryland Shock Trauma and any charges will be filed after review by the State’s Attorney.

A Severn woman suspected of driving drunk when she struck Gonzalez-Lopez and a co-worker on Annapolis Road after they had closed a lane on MD-175 at Walker Drive in Severn. The two employees of Peak Incorporated had put cones out to close the right lane of northbound Annapolis Road for the State Highway Administration.

The work was almost complete and the right lane had been closed for over half a mile when a 1994 GMC Sierra pickup driven by Valerie Helen Matthews, 63, of the 8400 block of Pioneer Drive in Severn, reportedly entered the closed lane and struck the two workers as they stood in the closed section, according to Anne Arundel County Police.

Matthews was not injured, but was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol and taken for an alcohol test. Authorities say the cause of the crash was Matthews' failure to obey the marked lane closure and alcohol was also a likely contributing factor.

Worker Edin O. Romero-Maldonado, 19, of Baltimore suffered serious injuries, police say.
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