A Prince George’s County corrections officer died on New Year’s Eve after his pickup truck went off the road and crashed into a pole in Crofton, police said.

The 57-year-old man, John Raymond Nicholson of Laurel, did not crash into other vehicles and was the only one in the truck, according to Anne Arundel County Police.

Nicholson had retired that day, and colleagues had celebrated him at his retirement party at the facility where he worked, according to the Prince George’s Department of Corrections.

Officers responded to the single-vehicle crash around 7:40 p.m. on Dec. 31 near Crain Highway N at Defense Highway, police said. Nicholson’s 2020 Dodge Pickup had veered from the road into the center lane, where it struck a pole, police said.

Anne Arundel County firefighters responded and pronounced Nicholson dead on the scene.

Nicholson, known as “Big Nic” to those at the Department of Corrections, retired as a master corporal, according to a social media post from the department. He started working there on June 18, 2001. During his career, he earned a Valor Award while working on the Emergency Response Team, the post said.

The department said in its post that Nicholson “has worked all over the facility with his most recent post being in reception where he greeted everyone as they entered the facility, usually bringing smiles to people’s faces to start the day.”

This article has been updated.