Document: MPD Investigating Fatal Crash on I-295

By D.C. Witness Staff - April 1, 2024
Daily Stories | Documents | Homicides | Traffic |

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating a traffic crash that killed a driver and sent five people to the hospital on March 29 on I-295 Northbound, approaching the Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue exit.

According to MPD documents, a Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck was traveling northbound, approaching the exit, when the crash occurred. According to witnesses, the truck was driving at a high rate of speed.

The preliminary investigation determined the truck drove onto the right shoulder of the roadway and struck the guard rail. As the Dodge attempted to merge back into the travel lane, it lost control and veered to the left of the roadway, striking the cement jersey wall.

The truck then climbed the jersey wall, striking a southbound Toyota Camry, before coming to a stop on top of the jersey wall and bursting into flames. The driver of the truck was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene. The passenger was pulled from the truck by an officer and transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

The driver of the Toyota Camry was not injured.

When the jersey wall was pushed outward into the southbound lanes of I-295, a Dodge Ram 3500 was unable to avoid the jersey wall and struck it. The driver and three passengers were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

The decedent’s identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification.

Anyone with information regarding the incident should call police.