Drunken Redneck Roulette
Booze Cruise Could Have Killed Local Family

By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY’S TODAY
LEONARDTOWN --- A local woman who thinks like so many other St. Mary’s County residents that they have a God-given right to drink and drive took to the road with a snoot full on Sunday.
This local boozedroid who has had her ups and downs with booze and drugs took another turn behind the wheel while fully loaded and slammed head-on into a vehicle carrying a family of four.
Sheryl Edgar Lococo of Compton, with Zack Mattingly as her passenger, was headed south of Bull Road at Society Hill Road when she hit a vehicle operated by Joe Gass, which had the right of way and was coming out of Breton Bay.
Gass told friends that he attempted to avoid the oncoming car and could not, and the Lococo vehicle hit his vehicle head-on. Angela Gass suffered a fractured sternum and was treated at St. Mary’s Hospital while Joe Gass and his two daughters were shaken up but unhurt.
Lococo said at the scene that she was going to Paw Paw Hollow, a nearby community, where her sister lives.
A year ago, Lococo and her husband, Brian, who has led a life of continued substance abuse, were performing a tree trimming service at a home in Medley’s Neck. Both were drinking and Brian cut a safety line with his chain saw and fell approximately 30 feet from the tree. He was near death when taken to a trauma center but somehow survived.
While drunk, Brian Lococo took his cabin cruiser for a spin up the Potomac towards St. George’s Creek and hit a daymarker, sometime overnight on July 11, 1997. Natural Resources Police began a search for Lococo’s body and later posted a lookout on land after police learned from witnesses he was simply fleeing the mess of the wrecked boat. In the meantime, U.S. Navy and Maryland State Police helicopters had been employed to find him.
The impact of the crash split the 29’ boat in two from the bow to the cockpit yet the engines had been shut down and taken out of gear after the crash.
Like so many other alcoholics, Sheryl Lococo has continued to ignore all advice from her family to halt her use of alcohol and to desist from driving after drinking. Her two daughters depend entirely on her for support now that their father is a resident of a convalescent home with a less than active brain capacity after his near-fatal fall.
Elderly Grandparents of the two girls will soon have to take on the task of raising them if justice should prevail and Sheryl Lococo gets the jail time she deserves, if she is convicted of drunk driving.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Sheila Breck reports that the crash that took place at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 29th, was investigated by Trooper Linger. Sgt. Breck said that the blood sample was taken and charges of drunk driving are expected to be placed pending a report of the samples.
The officer told Joe Gass that Lococo’s blood sample was 2.0, almost three times the legal limit for intoxication.
Neither Lococo nor Mattingly was wearing seat belts and both refused treatment.