Beltsville Man Identified as Victim of Fatal Fall in Wheaton

Montgomery County police have identified the 31-year-old man who fell to his death March 8 at a Wheaton construction site as José Roberto Lemus-Flores of the 3500 block of Powder Mill Road in Beltsville.

A police spokesperson said Lemus-Flores had been walking along an exposed third story decking when a gust of wind caused him to lose his footing. He fell one story onto a concrete pad and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident occurred at the former site of the First Baptist Church (10914 Georgia Ave.) where a six-story, 232-unit residential apartment project called Solaire Wheaton is under construction.

Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency that oversees workplace safety, was notified of the fall as is “standard protocol in this type of incident," according to fire and rescue service spokeswoman Beth Anne Nesselt.