NRP Investigates Fatal Swimming Accident, Handles Cases at State Parks

Maryland Natural Resources Police officers are investigating the death of Matthew Bolte, 24, of North East, who died Sunday after jumping from Wildcat Point in Cecil County into the Susquehanna River. His friends say he surfaced once and disappeared from view at about 3:30 p.m. 

Water rescue teams from Cecil and Harford counties, and Lancaster County (Pa.), along with NRP officers were called in to search. Divers from the Susquehanna Hose Co. of Havre de Grace, recovered the body in 45 feet of water at about 6:30 p.m.

Their efforts were hampered by thunderstorms that rolled through the area.

The body was taken the state Medical Examiner’s office in Baltimore for an autopsy, which was scheduled for Monday.

The cliffs, about four miles above the Conowingo Dam on the Maryland-Pennsylvania line, are a popular summer destination. The outcropping of rocks rise about 65 feet above the water. In 2002, a 23-year-old man was killed after he dove off the cliffs. A 25-year-old Delaware man died there in 2013.

In Washington County, NRP officers and Greenbrier State Park staff searched Saturday for a 12-year-old girl who became disoriented on a trail near the campsite and wandered off park property.

At about 8 p.m., the girl walked into San Mar Children’s Home on Route 66 in Boonsboro to ask for help. The facility staff called 911, and an NRP officer picked her up and reunited her with her parents.

She told officers that she saw a road and followed it until she found a place that looked safe to approach.

Earlier that same day in Greenbrier State Park, NRP officers were called to the scene to mediate a dispute between two groups of visitors over the behavior of their children.

After a 4-year-old child dumped a bucket of water on a 19-month-old child, the mother of the younger child repeatedly dumped water on the 4 year old. When others got involved, the dispute escalated to the point that police intervention was required.

Laquesha Nicola Countiss, 24, of Waldorf was charged with having a suspended driver’s license. The rest of those involved were advised how they could file charges if they elected to do so at a later time.

In Garrett County, a Pennsylvania man was charged with multiple counts of impaired boating after officers stopped him on Deep Creek Lake after dark for failing to have navigational lights on.

Michael William Angello Jr., 46, of Hershey received citations for operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol, operating while impaired, eluding a police officer and failing to display navigational lights.

Officers say that shortly after midnight on June 6, they attempted to stop a vessel near Cherry Creek that then engaged in a series of maneuvers to try to lose the patrol boat. After failing field sobriety tests, Angello was taken to the Maryland State Police Barrack, where he registered a blood alcohol content of .13, well above the .08 legal limit.

Angello is scheduled to appear in Garrett District Court on Sept. 18. If found guilty of all charges, he could be fined as much as $3,000 and be sentenced to more than two years in jail.