A teenage girl on an electric scooter was seriously injured after colliding with a driver near Washington-Liberty High School earlier this afternoon.
Shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, police were dispatched to Washington Blvd and N. Quincy Street, in the Virginia Square area, for the report of a crash with injury, a police spokeswoman told ARLnow.
“The preliminary investigation indicates a juvenile on an electric scooter was travelling southbound on N. Quincy Street when she proceeded through a red light and collided with a westbound travelling vehicle,” ACPD spokeswoman Alli Shorb said in a statement.
Initial reports identified the person who was hit as a 16-year-old girl. Police, firefighters and EMS personnel were all on the scene this afternoon, treating the teen and redirecting traffic away from the intersection.
Shorb said “the juvenile sustained serious, non-life threatening injuries and was transported to an area hospital.”
Though police said a scooter was involved, a blue e-bike could be seen lying on its side near the ambulance that carried the teen to the hospital.
The driver of the involved vehicle remained on scene and was not charged with any crime, based on the preliminary investigation, Shorb said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
In a School Talk email to families, Principal Tony Hall identified the struck teen as a W-L student. He said EMS treated the teen on scene, resulting “in an ambulance and increased police presence near the school.”
“We are in contact with the family of the student,” he said. “There is no cause for concern to the greater W-L community at this time.”
(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) One person was seriously injured and Bob & Edith’s Diner was damaged after two incidents of gunfire in Arlington last night.
The first shooting happened in the Green Valley neighborhood, near the intersection of 22nd Street S. and S. Kenmore Street, shortly after 11 p.m. Witnesses reported hearing 5-6 gunshots in the area, exchanged between two vehicles, per scanner traffic.
Shortly thereafter, gunfire was reported along the 2300 block of Columbia Pike and apparent bullet holes were found in the windows of Bob & Edith’s Diner. No one at the diner was hurt, according to police.
Then, at 11:20 p.m., an officer reported to dispatch that a person who was shot had arrived at Virginia Hospital Center in a car with numerous bullet holes. The driver of the vehicle was detained for questioning, per scanner traffic.
Police said the gunshot victim was treated for “serious injuries.” The Fairfax County police helicopter was called in to help search for the suspects but nothing was found, according to Arlington County police.
In a press release issued later this morning, police said that the victim is in stable condition, confirmed that the two shootings are linked, and asked for tips.
The preliminary investigation indicates the victim was stopped at the traffic light at 22nd Street S. and S. Kenmore Street when the suspect discharged multiple rounds at the victim’s vehicle from a black sedan. Following the shooting, the victim drove away from the scene but the suspect followed and discharged additional rounds towards the victim’s vehicle at Columbia Pike and S. Wayne Street. The victim was then able to leave the scene and seek medical assistance at a hospital.
Responding officers processed both scenes, collected evidence, spoke with witnesses and conducted an aerial search with the assistance of a police helicopter. Residents are asked to review their home surveillance for any video that may assist the ongoing investigation. Additionally, anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
This was not the week’s first outburst of gunfire. Shots were fired overnight Sunday into Monday in the Green Valley and Arlington Mills neighborhoods, but no injuries have been reported from those incidents.
There were at least three shootings in Green Valley last year:
- A man shot and seriously injured near the Lucky Seven Food Mart on July 6, 2022
- A man shot by police after he allegedly walked around the neighborhood firing gunshots at random on Oct. 14, 2022
- A man shot and seriously injured after an apparent dispute, resulting in the arrest of a 40-year-old Arlington resident, on Nov. 27, 2022
CONTINUED: ACPD is also investigating the report of shots fired in the 2300 block of Columbia Pike. No injuries have been reported. A police helicopter is assisting with an aerial search of the Green Valley & Columbia Pike incidents. Expect continued police presence in the areas.
— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) January 31, 2023
update: The Fairfax County police helicopter is making a routine sweep of the area to search for anything additional. @HelicoptersofDC @ARLnowDOTcom https://t.co/DbDAl2upO5 pic.twitter.com/rqxPVqUHUq
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) January 31, 2023
Video of @ArlingtonVaPD near Bob & Edith's on Columbia Pike at 11:15. Report of shots (some on Twitter say they heard it). Haven't learned what ACPD found. This occurred a few mins. after Green Valley shooting. @ARLnowDOTcom pic.twitter.com/jZeHC7IDok
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) January 31, 2023
Same. 4-6 ish shots and some huge tire squealing in the middle of it.
— Jess H (@mistwit33) January 31, 2023
Arlington police are investigating a violent robbery in the Lyon Park neighborhood last night.
The robbery happened around 11 p.m. on the 200 block of N. Wayne Street, in the area of the Washington and Lee Apartments, and resulted in gunfire and a serious injury.
“At approximately 11:07 p.m. on December 27, police were dispatched to the report of shots heard,” Arlington County police said today in a crime report. “Upon arrival, officers made contact with the victim who had sustained serious, non-life-threatening injuries and declined the treatment of medics. The investigation determined the victim was inside his residence when approximately three male suspects entered, physically assaulted him and stole his personal belongings, including a firearm, before fleeing the scene on foot.”
“During the course of the investigation, officers recovered evidence of a firearm being discharged and located property damage to the floor of the residential building,” the report continues. “There are no descriptions for the three suspects. The investigation is ongoing.”
The crime report does not specify who fired the gunshot nor the nature of the victim’s injuries.
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Storefront safety is now top-of-mind for Ireland’s Four Courts after a rideshare driver plowed into the pub and sparked a fire, seriously injuring several people.
While those injured were inside the restaurant, safety advocates say this crash demonstrates why many have concerns about outdoor dining and nightlife, as well as traffic configurations that rely on everyone driving perfectly. For Four Courts, the crash is a chance to rebuild with a greater focus on safety.
“Since the accident, storefront and patio safety is most definitely our highest priority as we plan our reopening,” Managing Partner Dave Cahill said. “I think installing safety bollards in the front of business locations like ours would eliminate the risk of vehicles crashing into buildings and pedestrians.”
Arlington County is more than a year into an initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. But because storefront crashes like this one are so rare, they aren’t the focus of Vision Zero efforts, according to the county. Instead, this initiative to eliminate traffic serious injuries and fatalities focuses on locations within Arlington’s High Injury Network.
“These types of crashes are often high-profile, but are uncommon,” says Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien.
Since 2017, 0.25% of total critical crashes, or 32 out of 13,035, involved a driver hitting a building. Two of these crashes — excluding the Courthouse crash — involved a visible, but not severe, injury, while the remainder resulted in property damage only.
Still, it has restaurateur David Guas, of Bayou Bakery, who watched the crash happen, thinking more about safety as well.
“Witnessing it first hand, I had a flash in the pan thought, ‘someone could’ve come down N. Veitch and into Bayou,'” he said. “Technically, it could happen, especially if this is a freak medical emergency.”
Police announced last month that the rideshare driver who drove straight in to the long-time pub likely suffered a medical emergency and will not face charges.
Risk factors
There are a lot of factors that put people at risk near storefronts, according to Storefront Safety Council cofounder Rob Reiter.
“Outdoor dining is inherently more risky,” says Reiter. “Speeds are up everywhere and… you’re always one drunk away from someone accelerating into a crowd.”
Nationally, based on statistics the council has compiled from news reports, court records and studies, the most common reasons are operator error and pedal confusion, followed by drunk driving.
In Arlington, of the serious crashes into a building, almost 30% involved a drunk driver, O’Brien said.
A driver suffering a “medical event” in a crash, as is believed to have happened with Four Courts, is fairly common, Reiter says. Council data indicate medical events make up 9% of storefront crashes.
The bigger issue here, Reiter said, is that the pub sits at a “T” intersection.
These are common in Arlington, in areas of low speed limits and multiple traffic signals and traffic signs, O’Brien said. The intersection ending in Ireland’s Four Courts “was and is being looked at for redesign, as is standard,” she added.
Another hairy traffic configuration is when perpendicular parking abuts the entrance to a store, said another Storefront Safety Council cofounder, Mark Wright, who was hit 14 years ago by a woman who rolled through a parking spot and into the 7-Eleven he was exiting.
While it is convenient, Wright said, “it’s a very risky parking arrangement and obviously parking is a critical component of any thriving, successful shopping center.”
Per Storefront Safety Council data, 23% of crashes involved retail stores and 19% involved restaurants.
(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) The rideshare driver who plowed into Ireland’s Four Courts in August, seriously injuring several people, will not face charges.
Arlington County police reiterated this morning that the driver most likely suffered a medical emergency while driving up N. Courthouse Road and speeding into the front of the pub during a Friday happy hour.
“The comprehensive investigation, which included an extensive review of evidence, supported the conclusion the driver experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash,” ACPD said today in a brief update. “Following consultation with the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, criminal charges will not be sought against the driver.”
All three pub-goers who were hospitalized with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries were out of the hospital as of one month ago. One patient was still in critical condition and two others were in stable condition within a week of the crash.
Four Courts’ managing partner told ARLnow today that the cleanup will start soon, now that police and private investigations have wrapped up, though no reopening date has been set. The pub suffered extensive fire damage after the car burst into flames.
“Uber investigators finished their investigation yesterday and we can now finally start the demolition process,” said Dave Cahill. “Once this is done we will know the extent of the damage. We are very grateful for the all the support from all community and from Arlington County as we start this process. We hoping to start the rebuild in a couple of months.”
(Updated at 12:35 a.m.) A pedestrian has died after being struck in the Williamsburg neighborhood this morning.
The crash happened around 9 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Little Falls Road and John Marshall Drive. Initial reports suggest that that an older woman was struck by the driver of an SUV in or near a crosswalk, and that the woman was in cardiac arrest when she was rushed to a local trauma center.
We’re told that the victim was familiar to local residents and is often seen walking in the area.
Police were still on site investigating the crash well into the morning, with the scene surrounded by police tape. The driver of the SUV remained on scene.
At 11 a.m., a police spokeswoman told ARLnow that the victim, who was in her 80s, has died.
“She was pronounced deceased at the hospital and police remain on scene investigating the fatal crash,” said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “Her identity is being withheld pending proper notification.”
This is the third fatal pedestrian crash along a two-block stretch of Little Falls Road near Nottingham Elementary School over the past eight years.
In 2014 a local mother unloading a minivan near the school was fatally struck by a passing dump truck, the driver of which was later charged with a traffic infraction. In September 2019, a 55-year-old Arlington woman was struck while walking her dogs in a crosswalk at the intersection of Little Falls Road and N. Ohio Street; she later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital..
ACPD issued the following about the crash Saturday night, with the victim’s name plus a bit more information on the crash and how it happened.
The Arlington County Police Department is investigating a fatal pedestrian crash that occurred in the Williamsburg neighborhood on the morning of Saturday, October 8.
At approximately 9:01 a.m., police were dispatched to the report of a crash with injuries involving a pedestrian in the 5800 block of Little Falls Road. Upon arrival, officers located the pedestrian in the roadway suffering from serious injuries. She was transported by medics to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased. She has been identified as Gwendolyn Hayes, 85, of Arlington, VA.
The preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the striking vehicle turned left from John Marshall Drive onto Little Falls Road and struck the pedestrian as she was crossing the roadway in the crosswalk. The driver of the striking vehicle remained on scene.
This remains an active criminal investigation. Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Detective D. Galiatsos at [email protected] or 703-228-4163. Information may also be reported anonymously to Arlington County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.
Hat tip to Charlie Clark
Someone driving the wrong-way on I-66 in Arlington caused a crash that seriously injured three people, state police say.
The crash happened early this morning around 1:30 a.m., near one of the Langston Blvd exits between Rosslyn and Glebe Road.
“At approximately 1:23 a.m. Monday (Sept. 19), Virginia State Police received an emergency call concerning a vehicle driving west in the eastbound lanes of I-66,” VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller tells ARLnow. “As state troopers were responding, the wrong-way vehicle struck an eastbound vehicle head-on near Exit 72.”
“The driver of the wrong-way vehicle, and the driver and passenger in the eastbound vehicle were all transported to a nearby hospital for treatment for serious injuries,” Geller continued. “The crash remains under investigation and charges are pending.”
ARLnow is awaiting an update on the condition of the three people seriously hurt in the crash.
Hat tip to Dave Statter. Photo via Google Maps.
(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) The rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse last month likely experienced “a medical emergency” before driving into the building, police say.
This preliminary explanation comes after Arlington County police previously ruled out drunk driving as well as malicious intent.
The crash set fire to the popular pub, situated next to the “T” intersection of N. Courthouse Road and Wilson Blvd, during a local company’s happy hour event. It triggered a large emergency response and road closures as people fled the fiery scene. More than a dozen people were hurt.
Police said today that all three pub-goers who were hospitalized with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries have now been released — a little over a month after they were admitted. One patient was still in critical condition and two others were in stable condition within a week of the crash.
The seriously injured people are expected to undergo a rehabilitation process as they continue to recover, we’re told.
In all, 15 people were injured, including nine brought to local hospitals. Of them, three were Four Courts employees hospitalized for less serious injuries, including smoke inhalation.
Four Courts Managing Partner Dave Cahill told ARLnow that the patrons who were seriously injured may not have survived but for other quick-thinking fellow pub-goers, including a volunteer firefighter, as well as first responders who arrived on scene just moments after the crash.
“Our thoughts and prayers have been with them for this whole time,” Cahill said of the victims. “They’re regulars who come in here all the time… we’re happy that they’ve started the next stage of recovery.”
Building inspectors determined that Four Courts is structurally sound but not fit for occupancy due to the extensive damage.
The pub is planning to rebuild, funded in part by a now-closed GoFundMe campaign that blew well past its $50,000 goal, raising just over $95,000. Tonight, fellow Arlington Irish pub Samuel Beckett’s (2800 S. Randolph Street) is hosting a fundraiser and silent auction for Four Courts staff.
Cahill told ARLnow today that insurance and other matters are still being worked out before construction can begin that would allow at least part of the pub to reopen. If demolition starts soon, he said, the best case scenario would be reopening in late spring or early summer of 2023.
When the doors swing back open, he wants customers to feel like nothing has changed, and for regulars to request the same TV channels and sit in the same seats they’ve sat in for years.
“We’re going to work and recreate Four Courts as close back to the original as possible,” he said. “We don’t want people to walk in here and think they’re in a different place. Things will be updated, obviously, but we want people to feel at home in the Four Courts.”
The only thing that many repeat customers would miss would be their personal mugs. Four Courts had a mug club with more than 1,475 mugs people purchased; added their names, football team logos and family crests to; and drank from whenever they came in.
“We lost a lot of mugs,” he said. “When the fire came, it melted the mug and left the handle. We’re sad about that. That was a big part of the brand.”
(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) An arrest has been made in the case of a woman who was pushed out of a moving SUV near Ballston.
Maryna Kapovska, 25, suffered severe injuries in the May 15 incident, which happened on Wilson Blvd just west of N. Glebe Road. She has been undergoing rehabilitation, including for a traumatic brain injury, according to a GoFundMe page that has raised $50,000 to cover Kapovska’s expenses.
Arlington County police announced this afternoon (Wednesday) that a man has been arrested in the case, following a “thorough investigation,” though there’s still no word on an exact motive.
Willie Clements, a 59-year-old Maryland resident, is now facing several felony charges after being taken into custody on Friday by Arlington County Police Department tactical officers. Police say the victim entered his black SUV while waiting for a rideshare driver in D.C. around 3 a.m.
Clements “was not employed as a rideshare driver and was not operating in a for-hire status,” according to police.
More from an ACPD press release:
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is announcing the arrest of a suspect following an aggravated malicious wounding investigation in the Bluemont neighborhood. Willie James Clements, 59, of Upper Marlboro, MD is charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding, Grand Larceny and Hit and Run. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.
At approximately 3:06 a.m. on May 15, police were dispatched to the area of Wilson Boulevard at N. Vermont Street for the report of trouble unknown. The reporting party stated she was driving in the area when she observed a black SUV swerving and traveling at a high rate of speed. The passenger door to the vehicle then opened and the victim was pushed out onto the roadway. Responding officers located the female victim in the roadway and medics transported her to an area hospital with serious injuries.
The investigation revealed that earlier in the morning, the victim requested a rideshare service from the 800 block of Florida Ave NW, Washington D.C. to her residence in Arlington. While waiting for her driver to arrive, the suspect approached, the victim entered his vehicle and he drove away. The suspect was not employed as a rideshare driver and was not operating in a for-hire status.
Arlington County Police Department detectives conducted a thorough investigation including witness interviews and the review of crime scene and other evidence. The review resulted in additional information that led detectives to identify Willie James Clements as a suspect. Officers assigned to the department’s TAC Unit took the suspect into custody without incident on the afternoon of September 2.
This remains an active criminal investigation. Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow that the crime scene was “less than a mile” from where the victim lived. She was unable to say why the victim might have entered the suspect’s vehicle.
“This remains an active criminal investigation and to ensure the integrity of the prosecution, no additional details are available at this time,” Savage said.
Kapovska is originally from Ukraine and was quoted in news stories in February just before the Russian invasion.
“Our dad is defending our homeland while our mom had to flee the war to Germany,” her sister noted on the GoFundMe page.
Prior to the March incident, the 25-year-old attended a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Montgomery County weekly, sang in the choir, and posted regularly on Instagram to show support for her homeland, said a Montgomery County Media story.
As her rehabilitation continues — it’s expected to take 6-12 months, according to the GoFundMe page — she returned to Instagram two weeks ago after a long hiatus.
“Happy days,” Kapovska wrote in a post, with a photo from prior to her injuries. “Life divided into before and after. This is before, looking forward to after.”
The four people reported to be seriously injured when a car plowed into Ireland’s Four Courts last night may not have survived but for the quick actions of fellow pub-goers and first responders.
That’s according to Dave Cahill, long-time manager of the Courthouse fixture, which remains closed after last night’s crash and fire.
At last check, the four critically injured people were still hospitalized, but the hope is all four will pull through, we’re told. Cahill tells ARLnow that all three Four Courts employees who were injured and brought to the hospital have since been released.
The crash happened around 6:45 p.m. Friday, as people were gathered near the front of the pub for a local company’s happy hour event.
A gray Toyota Camry — ARLnow has heard from multiple sources that it was being operated as a rideshare vehicle — reportedly came speeding up N. Courthouse Road and drove through the “T” intersection, slamming directly into the pub. It was nearly 20 feet inside the business, Cahill said, and started to catch fire almost immediately.
Quick-thinking customers sprang into action, coming from the back of the restaurant to the smoldering wreckage to help severely injured customers, the driver, and at least one passenger of the car, who was also hurt. Photos taken as fire started to engulf the car and the pub show several people carrying one man — who can be seen in a photo taken seconds earlier slumped over in front of the car — to safety outside.
Police and firefighters arrived on scene as employees and customers were still trying to flee the pub. Photos and a TikTok video show police officers running into Four Courts as smoke billowed out. In frantic police radio transmissions, first arriving officers requested “a lot of ambulances” and reported “a lot of people” still inside the restaurant as fire spread.
“It’s an image I’ll never forget,” said Cahill.
Without customers risking their own safety to save the injured, and without the lightning-fast response of police and medics — ACPD headquarters is a couple of blocks from Four Courts and a fire station is a short distance down Wilson Blvd — “it could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Also helping: the pub was significantly less crowded than usual for a Friday, a server told NBC 4.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt,” said Cahill. Asked about when the pub might reopen, Cahill said “we’re not thinking about it right now.”
Building inspectors determined that Four Courts is structurally sound but not fit for occupancy due to the extensive damage. Photos of the interior from this morning, shared with ARLnow, show a vast swath of charred flooring, fixtures and ceiling near the front of the pub.
The car, meanwhile, was removed from inside and hauled away on a flatbed tow truck early this morning. Video shows heavy front-end damage from the collision.
Cahill said management will start to assess repairs and future plans next week, but noted that the kitchen and the newer rear of the pub is largely intact. The current hope is that insurance will help to pay employees and keep them on staff.
A GoFundMe page, which Cahill says was set up by a regular customer, will also help. As of publication it has raised more than $7,500 of a $50,000 goal.
A total of 14 people were injured, including eight who were brought to local hospitals, police and fire officials said last night. There’s still no word on what led to the crash.
Update at 4 p.m. — The Arlington County police and fire departments just issued the following joint statement. Two of the victims remain in critical condition, the statement says, while the other two seriously injured people have been stabilized.
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) A portion of N. Glebe Road between Ballston and Langston Blvd was blocked this morning after a serious crash.
A car appears to have collided head-on with a motorcycle, seriously injuring the motorcycle rider. The exact circumstances around the crash are unclear.
The motorcyclist was reported to be conscious but “pretty banged up” when he was rushed to a local hospital. Both the striking car and the motorcycle were heavily damaged by the force of the collision.
Detectives remain on scene investigating. No charges have been filed as of yet.
The motorcyclist is expected to survive, according to police.
“At approximately 8:57 a.m. on August 3, police were dispatched to N. Woodrow Street at N. Glebe Road for the report of a two vehicle crash with injuries,” Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “The motorcyclist has been transported to an area hospital with injuries considered serious but non-life threatening. The driver of the sedan remained on scene. Police continue to investigate the cause of the crash.”
Glebe Road was expected to remain at least partially blocked between N. Woodrow Street and Langston Blvd for much of the morning as a result of the investigation and the crash cleanup effort. It reopened shortly after 10:30 a.n.
