Victim Identified In Fatal Weekend Crash

BERLIN — A Virginia man has been identified as the deceased victim in a fatal accident on Route 376 in Berlin on Friday night, and three other victims remain hospitalized.

Around 9:35 p.m. on Friday, Maryland State Police troopers from the Berlin barrack responded to the area of Route 376, or Assateague Road, near Grey Fox Lane for a reported two-vehicle collision. Based on the preliminary investigation, officers believe a vehicle with six occupants made a U-turn in front of a second vehicle with one occupant, and the vehicles collided.

Multiple occupants were entrapped inside the first vehicle that reportedly made the U-turn and had to be extracted by first-responders. The driver of that vehicle, identified this week as Hobart Kistler, 31, of Portsmouth, Va., was transported to Atlantic General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

Four other victims in the first vehicle remained hospitalized as of mid-week, including two at Shock Trauma in Baltimore and one at Norfolk Sentara in Virginia. A third victim from the first vehicle remained hospitalized at TidalHealth PRMC as of mid-week, while a fourth has been released from the hospital. The driver of the second vehicle was an 18-year-old male from Berlin.

The victims were transported by various agencies including Berlin EMS, Ocean City Fire and EMS, Showell EMS and Ocean Pines EMS. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) assisted with the incident. Route 376 was closed for several hours due to the collision. The cause of the collision is still under investigation by the Maryland State Police.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.