Man hurt when truck falls into quarry

March 16, 1997

A 28-year-old Hagerstown man was in fair condition in Washington County Hospital Sunday after he drove another man's truck into a quarry off Mapleville Road Sunday morning, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

James Edward Childers, of 10819 Oak Valley Drive, was driving a 1993 Toyota pickup belonging to Robert McKee of Hagerstown shortly before 10 a.m. when he went through the steel gate at the quarry entrance and over the quarry rim, police said.

The truck didn't enter the water but landed on its roof on a ledge about 100 to 120 feet down into the quarry, police said.

Police had been informed that Childers was going to drive into the quarry, located north of Interstate 70 on the east side of Mapleville Road (Md. 66), police said.

Sheriff's deputies and Maryland State Police arrived at the quarry around 10 a.m. and found the empty truck, police said.

A state police helicopter and the sheriff's department K-9 unit were called to search the area, police said.

Several minutes after the search began, police received a call from a friend of Childers' who told them Childers had called him from the quarry office, where he'd broken a window to gain entry, police said.

Childers was found in the building and taken by helicopter to Washington County Hospital, police said.

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