A 55-year-old truck driver from Chicago cut off his penis at the Flying J Truck Stop in Clearbrook — though investigators are not sure how long it happened before rescue crews arrived, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Wednesday.

Deputies said they arrived Tuesday morning and found the man with blood on his hands, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Capt. John Heflin said.

Maj. Robert C. Eckman said the man, whose name and trucking company is not being released, had been staying in his truck at the Flying J since Friday.

“Right now, we believe this incident happened sometime between Friday and Tuesday,” Eckman said.

The trucker used a knife to cut off his penis, then wrapped it in a plastic bag, and put it in a Dumpster near his truck, Eckman said.

Doctors were unable to reattach the penis.

Eckman said deputies received a 911 call at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. According to a Flying J manager, the man called his trucking company for help, and officials there called the sheriff’s office.

Investigators are not sure what prompted the incident, but Eckman said the trucker is receiving mental health services at Winchester Medical Center.

A hospital spokeswoman declined comment, citing federal privacy laws.

Several documented cases of penis dismemberment exist. The men did not die, but doctors were unable to reattach the severed organs.

Local urologist K. Shane Geib said he did not work on this case, but is familiar with other self-inflicted dismemberments.

The penis includes four major arteries, and cutting it off without applying a tourniquet would lead to severe blood loss, Geib said.

The few cases in Fairfax he saw of self-injury involved men suffering from some sort of mental illness, Geib said.

By Kevin Killen
The Winchester Star