All lanes of northbound I-395 were diverted onto S. Glebe Road last night after a fatal crash on the highway involving a police vehicle.
The crash happened just before 9:45 p.m. Wednesday near the exit to Washington Blvd, about 10 minutes after an officer reported making a traffic stop in the same area. Officers were said to be on scene and performing CPR on a driver within minutes of the crash, according to scanner traffic.
No official information about what happened was available in the hours after the incident. On Thursday morning, Virginia State Police — which is investigating the crash — revealed that the driver of an SUV crashed into the back of the stopped Arlington County police cruiser, injuring the driver, an officer and one of the people in the car the officer had pulled over.
The driver of the striking vehicle died, while the hospitalized occupant of the stopped car suffered what were described as minor injuries.
An Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman told ARLnow that the officer who was injured had to be removed from her cruiser by rescuers.
“The officer was insider her vehicle at the time of the crash, was extricated and transported to the hospital… with serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” said ACPD’s Ashley Savage.
The officer is “expected to be released from the hospital later today,” Savage said Thursday morning.
The original traffic stop, Savage noted, was for speeding. State Police say the officer’s vehicle was in the left lane of the highway, while the vehicle she stopped was in the left shoulder.
More, below, from VSP.
Virginia State Police is investigating a fatal crash that occurred last evening (Sept. 24, 2025) on Interstate 395 northbound near the eight-mile marker in Arlington County.
At approximately 9:40 p.m., an Arlington County Police Officer was conducting a traffic stop on the left shoulder of Interstate 395. The ACPD vehicle was located in the left lane with its emergency equipment activated. The vehicle the officer had stopped, a Toyota Corolla, was located on the left shoulder.
During the stop, a Honda CRV, driving in the left lane, struck the Arlington County Police Department vehicle at a high rate of speed. The driver of the Honda was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered serious injuries. He later succumbed to those injuries at an area hospital.
The Arlington County Police Officer involved in the traffic stop suffered minor injuries. The officer was transported to an area hospital.
One of the four occupants in the Corolla suffered minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital. The other three occupants were not injured.
Interstate 395 completely reopened at approximately 2:30 this morning.
Breaking: Avoid I-395N. Traffic is being stopped at Glebe Rd due to a very serious crash near Exit 8A to Washington Boulevard. Multiple people injured. @ARLnowDOTcom @matthewyoung31 @NFTC_News @CordellTraffic #crash #traffic #Arlington #Virginia pic.twitter.com/B1k8t1CeCY
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) September 25, 2025
Update #Shirlington: I-395 NB remains closed near Glebe Rd, expect extended closure and use alternate route. #DMVTraffic #VaTraffic https://t.co/azvTeEOjdK
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) September 25, 2025
