West Braddock Road remained closed in both directions Wednesday after a single-vehicle crash into a utility pole left power lines down and caused widespread outages affecting thousands of customers.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the 900 block of West Braddock Road at 2:33 a.m. after callers reported a single vehicle had struck a utility pole, according to dispatch scanner reports. The pole fell, and live wires were down with transformers blown in the area.
The Alexandria Police Department confirmed the incident on X at 4:52 a.m., saying the crash occurred between Fontaine and East Timber Branch roads.
Dispatch reports indicated a 22-year-old male driver was bleeding from his hand when crews arrived. The vehicle’s airbags had deployed, and the driver was out of the car. An officer reported that power lines and power poles were completely down upon arrival. Another officer reported that two utility poles had been knocked down.
According to dispatch reports, the driver told police there was a second occupant in the vehicle but that he had fled the scene.
Engine 203, Medic 203, Alexandria police and Dominion Energy responded to the scene.
Power went out in the area shortly after 2 a.m., with more than 4,000 Dominion Energy customers losing electricity. By 5 a.m., the number of affected customers had dropped to 456, and that number remained unchanged as of 7:30 a.m., according to the utility’s outage map.
Power was restored to most customers just after 1 p.m. As of 2:30 p.m., only four customers in Alexandria remained without power, with restoration estimated between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Police said the road closure was expected to last all day as crews worked to restore power and clear the scene.
Motorists were advised to seek alternate routes while crews worked to repair the damage.
The Alexandria Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
