Man Died Hours After Montgomery Crash, Refusing Medical Help: Police

A Maryland man who collapsed last month hours after being involved in a car crash and refusing medical help most likely died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the collision, Montgomery County police said this week.

On Jan. 8 at about 2 p.m, police and fire personnel responded to the intersection of Watkins Mill Road and Crested Iris Drive, in Gaithersburg, for a report of a crash.

The two drivers involved refused medical assistance and a property damage report was then completed, police said.

About four hours later, shortly before 6 p.m., emergency personnel were called to the 19300 block of Montgomery Village Avenue for an unconscious person.

Edwin Portillo, 44, was found after collapsing outside a McDonald’s, detective Elijah Kinser told Telemundo 44. Portillo was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, in Germantown, where he was pronounced dead.

The investigation determined Portillo had been involved in a crash earlier that day and that he died “as a result of the injuries” he had suffered, police said.

Portillo suffered from cirrhosis and he had just been hospitalized and released a few days before the crash, his family told T44.

However, while his condition could have been a factor, the forensic report suggests it was the impact of the crash that led to Portillo’s death, Kinser said.

Authorities are waiting for the full report, but the preliminary results showed Portillo suffered from grave internal injuries due to the collision, Kinser said.

Portillo’s family remembers him as a good, caring man.

“I’ve lived my whole life with him. I loved him very much,” his aunt, Esperanza Hernández, said. “We’ll remember him for the rest of our lives.”

The investigation into the crash is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.