Driving Laws, DUI and Crime on the Road

October 1, 2008

Investigators assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Major Crash Investigations Unit are investigating a fatal traffic accident which occurred on Connecticut Avenue, NW.

Shortly after 2:00 on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 1, 2008, a pedestrian was struck and fatally injured by an automobile in the 5000 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW.

Reportedly, the operator of a 1998 Dodge Neon that was traveling northwest bound on Connecticut Avenue, NW struck a pedestrian crossing from west to east.  It appears that the pedestrian had traveled across two lanes of southeast bound traffic and entered into a single lane of northwest bound traffic before being struck.

The impact caused the pedestrian to become embedded in the windshield of the Dodge.  D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department personnel responded to the scene, but they could find no life signs. Subsequently, a representative from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia pronounced the pedestrian dead on the scene.

The investigation indicates that the pedestrian, who has been identified as 85-year-old Charles Schwartz, of the 4700 block of  Willard Avenue in Chevy Chase, Maryland, was not crossing in a marked crosswalk and was crossing between two adjacent intersections controlled by signal lights.  Speed does not appear to be a factor nor was alcohol consumption by the driver a contributing factor.