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Longtime Fencing Coach Killed By Snow Plow

MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ/AP) --The dangerous roads are responsible for several deadly accidents.

Mike Schuh is following an investigation of one of the fatalities in Anne Arundel County.

The 77-year-old man who was struck and killed in Anne Arundel County is known around the world. The car of former Hopkins fencing Coach Richard "Dick" Oles was disabled for some reason. His plan to fix it ended in his death.

Dick Oles was a legendary Hopkins fencing coach. He won world championships—his students, over 600 matches.
He coached the Johns Hopkins fencing team for 45 years before he retired in 2003.

A friend and fellow fencer, Dan Collins, says Oles "lived and breathed fencing" and still showed up every night at his North Baltimore fencing club, Salle Palasz.

Collins says Oles' death is "a great loss" to the fencing community, calling him "a character and an interesting man who
cared so much about this sport."

Early Thursday morning, for whatever reason, he had his car towed to a gas station. After dropping off his car, the victim started to walk east, toward his home four miles away. He only made it about half a block before he was struck.

The accident happened along a particularly narrow stretch of mountain road. The 911 caller told police that she saw the driver hit Oles and not stop.

"We're interested in locating the F-350. It's a red Ford pickup, according to the caller, with a snow plow on the front. We don't even know if this person knows they have been involved in an accident or not," said Lt. Francis Tewey, Anne Arundel County Police.

Traffic investigators are back on the scene, asking anyone who can help solve the mystery of who hit Oles to give them a call.

If the driver is found, police can't say if or when any charges will be filed. Their investigation is going to be turned over to the prosecutor for charges.

Here in Baltimore, a taxi driver died when a cab got stuck in snow and caught on fire.  And in Carroll County, a 32-year-old man collapsed and died while shoveling his driveway. It is still not clear what caused his death. Click here for more on that story.

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