Update on 6/21/12 at 11:35 a.m. — Police report the driver of the SUV has been charged with reckless driving. They have also updated the number of vehicles involved to be 10. In addition to the woman who was trapped in her car, one other driver and one other passenger were also transported to Inova Fairfax hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
(Updated at 7:25 p.m.) A driver may be charged after a serious accident Wednesday evening on Washington Boulevard in Ballston.
An accident at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Wilson Blvd had office workers and bystanders scratching their heads this afternoon.
The accident happened at the Ballston intersection just after 3:30 p.m. Somehow, a red sedan entered the left-hand travel lane of traffic heading in the opposite direction on Glebe Road. It appears that the sedan ran head-on into a taxi stopped just before the intersection.
(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) The National Park Service will be installing a series of safety improvements along the George Washington Parkway, intended to make Memorial Circle and several Mt. Vernon Trail crossings across the parkway less dangerous.
The improvements were announced this morning by Rep. Jim Moran (D). Work on the improvements will start next week and will wrap up by the fall. Among the planned changes, according to Moran’s office:
Initial reports indicate the accident happened when a vehicle ran into a motorcycle. The motorcyclist is being treated for critical injuries and will be transported to a local trauma center via ambulance, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
All HOV traffic is being diverted onto the main southbound lanes of I-395. Southbound backups extend to the 14th Street Bridge.
Initial reports suggest the truck was heading southbound on Glebe near the intersection with S. Walter Reed Drive when a pair of its rear wheels flew off and struck a Mercedes SUV traveling northbound.
The driver of the Mercedes was taken to the hospital for evaluation of minor injuries, according to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The driver of the tractor trailer stayed on scene after the accident. The wheels ended up at the base of a clump of trees along the southbound side of Glebe.
ACPD Cruiser Hits Dog — An Arlington County police cruiser hit a dog Thursday night. The dog’s owner is accusing the police officer of speeding at the time the dog was struck, but a police spokesman suggests that that the dog’s injuries — it survived and is expected “to make a full recovery” — would have been worse if the officer was actually speeding. [WUSA 9]
Ballston Craft Market Season Starts — The Ballston Arts & Crafts Market will open its 2012 season on Saturday, May 12. It will take place on the second Saturday of the month through October. [Sun Gazette]
ACFD Vehicle Involved in Rollover Accident –An Arlington County Fire Department SUV was involved in a single-vehicle rollover accident on the Dulles Toll Road on Monday afternoon, the McLean Patch reported. No one was injured in the accident, fire department spokesman Capt. Gregg Karl confirmed to ARLnow.com. No other details about the crash were immediately available.
Arlington’s Mongolian Community — Arlington is home to one of the country’s largest Mongolian communities. In fact, Mongolian is the fourth most common language in Arlington Public Schools. [Washington Post]
Just after 12:00 p.m. an elderly male driver in a Toyota Camry drove into the store’s entrance after accidentally pressing the gas instead of the brake, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Two people were inside the vehicle at the time. No word on whether anybody was inside the store.
Damage to the store is estimated at $20,000, but a building inspector determined that there was no structural damage to the building.
The inbound (northbound) HOV lanes of I-395 are blocked over the Potomac River due to an accident.
The accident reportedly involves at least one overturned vehicle and two injuries. Arlington firefighters and medics are on the scene, though the accident is closer to the D.C. side of the river.
The incident started around noon when an officer in a marked ACPD cruiser stopped to assist Virginia State Police who had stopped a pedestrian on I-66 in Prince William County. A struggle ensued, the suspect struck the Arlington officer in the face and then hopped into the officer’s cruiser and sped off
Virginia State Police, Prince William County and Fairfax County police pursued the stolen cruiser, until the chase ended on I-66 at Cub Run, near the Prince William County/Fairfax County border.
The incident happened just before 5:45 p.m., when police received a call for a truck that had crashed into a fence and a utility pole on the 1500 block of N. Lincon Street. The crash happened in front of Hayes Park and across from Arlington Science Focus school, in the Virginia Square neighborhood. The driver of the truck ran off after the accident, police were told.
After a short investigation officers determined that the truck’s owner had parked it with the keys still inside, and had just noticed that it was missing, according to police radio traffic. Police dogs were called in to try to track the suspect, but as of this morning there was no report of an arrest in the case.
Police are blocking the ramp from northbound Glebe Road to southbound I-395 — and from southbound I-395 to Shirlington — due to an accident.
One person suffered a back injury as a result of the two-vehicle wreck, according to police radio traffic.
