(Updated 7 p.m.) The Alexandria Police Department (APD) is investigating a hit-and-run in the Braddock neighborhood that left a 15-year-old male pedestrian in the hospital.
APD Communications Manager Tracy Walker said one pedestrian, a juvenile, was injured and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said after the crash, the driver drove to the rear of George Washington Middle School and nearly struck several other children. The School Resource Officer (SRO) drew his gun to protect the students, and afterward the driver left the scene. The SRO and other police officers pursued the truck but lost sight of it.
George Washington Middle School was briefly put into “secure the building” mode for ten minutes during the incident.
“The suspected vehicle was subsequently located at the Eisenhower Connector unoccupied,” APD said in a release. “No suspects are in custody at this time.”
Scanner traffic indicated the vehicle involved was a yellow Penske truck.
The hit-and-run reportedly occurred near North Patrick Street and Montgomery Street before 3 p.m.
One victim was injured and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to scanner traffic.
The truck was reportedly damaged during the incident and lost its passenger-side mirror.
According to APD:
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run that occurred at approximately 3:02 p.m. on October 4, involving a Penske truck and a 15-year-old male at the corner of Montgomery and North Patrick Streets. The injured juvenile was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
After the crash, the driver of the vehicle drove to the rear of the George Washington Middle School nearly striking children. The School Resource Officer (SRO) drew his service weapon to protect the students from being harmed and to stop the driver from moving in the direction of the students. As a result, the driver drove off and no other injuries occurred. The SRO and other officers pursued the vehicle, but lost sight of it.
The suspected vehicle was subsequently located at the Eisenhower Connector unoccupied. No suspects are in custody at this time. APD officers are actively looking for the driver of the vehicle and are interviewing witnesses. APD is asking for the community’s help by providing any information or eyewitness accounts by calling our non-emergency number (703) 746-4444.
Notification:: In response to a hit-and-run crash involving a pedestrian, there is a moderate police presence near the intersection of Montgomery and North Patrick Streets. The juvenile pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries. APD is on the scene and investigating. pic.twitter.com/wfH4pG1rto
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) October 4, 2023
Alexandria police are searching for a small yellow Penske box truck that nearly ran over several school kids. The incident started in the area of North Patrick St and Montgomery St. It should have a damaged driver's side mirror. At least one injury, hopefully… pic.twitter.com/egl5f45jgP
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) October 4, 2023
H/t to Alan Henney
A pedestrian suffered minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle in Old Town North early last Sunday night (Dec. 18).
The 56-year-old female victim was transported to the hospital after getting hit at around 5:40 p.m. at the intersection of Pendleton Street and N. Pitt Street.
The driver stayed at the scene and was charged with failure to pay full time attention.
The incident occurred less than a mile from where a pedestrian was struck in the 100 block of N. Henry Street on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
A pedestrian suffered minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle in the 100 block of N. Henry Street in Old Town Wednesday night.
The incident was reported shortly before 10 p.m. and the driver stayed at the scene. No arrests were made.
Police tweeted that the pedestrian was transported to the hospital out of a precaution.
The incident occurred near N. Henry Street (Route 1) and King Street — a heavy traffic one-way street going southbound through Old Town.
Alexandria’s Old Town Historic District is also the most dangerous area for pedestrians in Virginia, according to a September report. Between 2015 and this year, there were more than 60 crashes and 75 injuries throughout Old Town.
Notification: There are temporary road closures in and near the 100 block of North Henry Street. This is in response to a single-vehicle car crash involving a pedestrian. The Pedestrian is believed to have minor injuries but was transported to the hospital as a precaution. pic.twitter.com/LT6eDxJW2d
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) December 15, 2022
A local nonprofit will leave a locked white “ghost scooter” at the corner of Sanger Avenue and North Beauregard Street this Sunday in memory of a 16-year-old killed at the intersection in August.
Miguel Ángel Rivera was riding an electric scooter when he was struck on August 27. He died four days later.
On Sunday (Nov. 20), the Alexandria chapter of Northern Virginia Families For Safe Streets will plant the white scooter and release its transportation improvement recommendations for the city and neighboring jurisdictions.
“The recommendations encourage drivers to slow down and go the posted speed limit,” said Mike Doyle, a founding member of the Northern Virginia Families For Safe Streets. “Doing simple things can save lives. There’s engineering changes, like traffic light changes, to slow drivers down.”
Doyle said that an electric scooter company deactivated the ghost scooter, and allowed for it to be used for this purpose providing that the company brand be removed. The scooter will be locked near the intersection and will stay up for an undetermined period of time.
Mayor Justin Wilson and representatives from the Alexandria Police Department and Alexandria City Public Schools will speak at the event, which will be held in the William Ramsay Elementary School (5700 Sanger Avenue) at 11:30 a.m. The event is part of series recognizing the annual World Day Of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. NoVAFSS will also conduct similar events in Arlington and Fairfax Counties.
Doyle came up with the idea for the nonprofit after recovering from being hit by a car in Old Town in 2016. He was walking home from work and a turning driver didn’t see him crossing.
“He turned left sharply and crashed into me, and he hit me with such force that my forehead put a dent in the hood of his car, which caused a fracture in my forehead and all sorts of issues,” Doyle said. “We have members of our group who are permanently crippled, but what gets me emotional is when I think about how it impacted my wife and the rest of my family and friends.”
In September, Old Town was deemed the most dangerous area for pedestrians in Virginia. There were 68 crashes and 75 injuries, throughout Old Town between 2015 and mid-2022, according to a a study.
There were also two pedestrian crashes last month in the West End.
“Speed kills and speed maims,” Doyle said. “So, if drivers slow down at a turn, there’s a greater chance that they can avoid crashing into somebody.”
Alexandria has a Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate pedestrian fatalities by 2028. Part of the action plan went into effect last month with numerous speed limit reductions in the West End.
Those reductions include:
- North Beauregard Street (Entire Length) — Reducing the posted speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour (MPH), and the school zone speed limits from 25 to 15 MPH
- West Braddock Road (North Beauregard Street to Quaker Lane) — Reducing the posted speed limit from 35 to 25 MPH, and the school zone speed limits from 25 to 15 MPH
- North Howard Street (Lynn House Driveway to Braddock Road) — Reducing the school zone speed limit on North Howard Street from 25 to 15 MPH
- Seminary Road (Kenmore Avenue to North Pickett Street) — Reducing the school zone speed limit from 25 to 15 MPH
- King Street (Radford Street to Quincy Street) — Installing a new 15 MPH school zone speed limit
The City also recently approved the installation of speed cameras at five school zones. The cameras were approved after a child was struck and seriously injured at an intersection just outside of Jefferson Houston Elementary School (200 block of North West Street).
A pedestrian has been transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after being struck by a driver on Van Dorn Street this morning.
Alexandria Police spokesman Marcel Bassett said around 6:36 a.m. the police received a call about a woman struck by a car. The woman was transported to a hospital while the driver remained on the scene.
According to a release:
The North Bound lanes of Van Dorn Street between Pickett Street and Edsall Road are temporarily closed due to a car crash. The crash involved a pedestrian. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. APD is investigating.
As of 9:30 a.m., the northbound lanes of Van Dorn Street between Pickett Street and Edsall Road remain closed.
A new study shows that the most dangerous area for pedestrians is Old Town.
The law firm of Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp commissioned the study, which identified 20 areas, and was conducted by California-based 1Point21 Interactive.
The study, which includes an interactive map, tabulated more than 11,000 crashes between 2015 and 2022, with the most in Alexandria’s Old Town Historic District.
There were 68 crashes and 75 injuries, throughout Old Town. In second place is the MCV and Capitol districts of Richmond with 55 crashes and 56 pedestrians injured, followed by Clarendon in Arlington County with 52 crashes and 58 pedestrian injuries.
“In Virginia, pedestrian safety is a growing concern. From 2015 through June 2022, over 11,000 pedestrians were struck in the state of Virginia, leaving over 10,000 injured and 848 dead,” according to the study.
The top 20 most dangerous areas are below.
RANK ZONE NAME LOCATION CRASHES PEDESTRIANS INJURED 1 Alexandria Historic District Alexandria 68 75 2 Capitol – Biotech and MCV Districts Richmond 55 56 3 Clarendon Arlington County 52 58 4 Belvidere St Corridor Richmond 44 43 5 Monroe Ward Richmond 37 39 6 Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond 34 35 7 Ballston Arlington County 32 31 8 North Rosslyn Arlington County 31 32 9 Caroline Street Corridor Fredericksburg 29 33 10 Shockoe Bottom Richmond 26 26 11 Columbia Pike Corridor Arlington County 24 25 12 Pacific Ave Corridor Virginia Beach 20 20 13 Main St Corridor Blacksburg 19 19 14 Shockoe Slip Richmond 18 18 15 Crystal City – Richmond Hwy & 23rd St Arlington County 18 20 16 Wilson Blvd Corridor Arlington County 18 18 17 Court House Arlington County 16 17 18 Ridge St Corridor Charlottesville 15 14 19 Columbia Pike & S Four Mile Run Dr. Arlington County 15 15 20 Downtown Roanoke Roanoke 14 14
A woman was critically injured after being struck by a driver this morning in Taylor Run.
The call for a pedestrian struck went out around 6:40 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). Alexandria Police spokesman Marcel Bassett said a female pedestrian was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of West Taylor Run Parkway and Janneys Lane. She suffered a serious but non-life-threatening injury.
Bassett said the car driver remained on the scene and the victim was transported to the hospital.
The intersection and the stretch of West Taylor Run Parkway just south of the intersection have had several serious collisions in recent with local residents frequently expressing concerns about safety.
On Monday, a grand jury indicted 46-year-old Hyattsville resident Fredy Ortiz Dominguez on charges related to the death of Roy Saravia Alvarez last November.
Dominguez allegedly struck and killed Alvarez at the intersection of West Glebe Road and Mount Vernon Avenue at around 8:10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.
“The decedent, Roy Saravia Alvarez, was walking on a sidewalk at that location when he was struck by a vehicle operated by the defendant,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said in a release. “Mr. Saravia Alvarez subsequently succumbed to injuries sustained during the crash.”
Alvarez was killed just days before his 47th birthday as he was walking home from a store.
“Involuntary Manslaughter is a felony offense which carries a potential maximum penalty of 10 years of incarceration in prison,” Porter said. “Reckless Driving is a misdemeanor offense which carries a potential maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and/or a fine of not more than $2,500. No trial date has been set in the matter.”
Update on 3/30/22 — The Alexandria Police Department said the driver was a 78-year-old local resident whose vehicle left the roadway and struck a 9-year-old girl on the sidewalk. Both driver and pedestrian were taken to Fairfax Hospital. The pedestrian had serious but non-life-threatening injuries and the driver was treated for minor injuries.
Earlier: A child was struck and seriously injured at an intersection just outside of Jefferson Houston Elementary School (200 block of North West Street).
According to a release from the Alexandria Police Department:
The 200 block of North West Street is closed to through traffic in response to a single-vehicle car crash involving a pedestrian. The pedestrian sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. APD is investigating the cause of the crash.
The crash was reported around 2:30 p.m., around the time the school lets out.
Alexandria Police public information officer Marcel Bassett confirmed that the pedestrian struck is a child. The driver stayed at the scene, and both the driver and victim were taken to a hospital.
(Updated at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 3) Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon wants to be able to reduce speed limits from 25 miles per hour to 15 mph in business and residential districts.
The proposal is part of the city’s efforts to pilot slow zones in residence districts, and goes before City Council on Tuesday, March 8. The City Manager already has the authority to reduce the speed limit, just not to 15 mph.
While there would not be any “immediate or direct impact on existing speed limits in the City,” the proposal gives Parajon the ability to decrease the speed limit and “establish differential speeds for daytime and nighttime driving on such streets, provided that any such increase or decrease in speed limit, or differential speed limit, shall be based upon an engineering and traffic investigation by the director of transportation and environmental services.”
The move comes three months after the City reduced the speed limit on Seminary Road from 35 mph to 25 mph. Last fall, there were a number of crashes involving pedestrians, including a man killed in the West End and a 13-year old struck while walking home in Del Ray.
According to the city:
This legislation enables the City to begin piloting “slow zones” in Alexandria, which typically include a combination of lower speed limits and traffic calming treatments such as speed cushions, curb extensions, and signage. Alexandria has committed to making streets safer through its Vision Zero program, which identifies speeding as one of the most pressing community concerns related to safety. Staff will not immediately consider individual requests outside of slow zone areas for speed limit reductions on neighborhood streets to less than 25mph. Should there be an eventual desire to reduce speed limits outside of slow zones, staff will develop a process for identifying which streets would qualify.
Alexandria’s Vision Zero Plan has the goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths and injuries by 2028.
