UPDATE at 11:24 p.m. A medical examiner has ruled that a man who was was found bleeding outside of the All Saints Church in Chevy Chase died of natural causes. Montgomery County Police are no longer investigating the incident as a suspicious death.
Montgomery County Police on Thursday night identified the man as Colbert Pleze, 59, of the 1500 block of Butler Street in Washington, D.C. Pleze was the church’s sexton, responsible for its maintenance. He was a D.C. native who served in the Marines and participated in the evacuation of the American embassy while stationed in Vietnam, according to the church’s website.
Authorities were called to the scene near the intersection of Grafton Street and Chevy Chase Circle just after 3 p.m. for the report of a man who was severely bleeding. The man left a visible blood trail from the curb, near his black BMW, to one of the doors of the church.
The man was transported to Suburban Hospital before dying at the hospital, police said. Police said Pleze was not able to provide first responders from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services and the Chevy Chase Village Police Department with information as to what happened.
The BMW remained on the scene Thursday evening, as detectives from Montgomery County’s Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated what was at first thought to be a hit-and-run.
Montgomery County Police later said an investigation revealed the cause of the man’s death was not a hit-and-run and the case would be handled by Major Crimes.
Police said the man had been washing his car before making his way to the church to ask for help. With the Medical Examiner ruling the death to be natural, Montgomery County Police are no longer investigating it as a suspicious death.
The exact cause of death is unknown, though police said it could have been a medical emergency or due to a pre-existing condition.
