A pedestrian was killed on the Key Bridge and a D.C. police officer responding to the crash was struck by a second vehicle in a bizarre and tragic sequence of events. Police have arrested suspects in both crashes and charged each motorist with driving under the influence.
It began around 10:30 p.m. Sunday as 23-year-old Eliester Elizardo Pineda-Medrano pushed a broken down scooter from Georgetown toward his home in Arlington. Pineda-Medrano was in the right lane, walking in the direction of traffic and about halfway over the Key Bridge, when he was struck from behind by an SUV.
The vehicle did not stop and sped into Virginia.
Police arrived on the scene, and an officer from the Second District began putting down flares to redirect traffic when he was struck by a Honda Accord.
He went flying into the windshield, breaking the glass and injuring his head, police said.
The officer, a nine-year D.C. police veteran, was taken to George Washington Hospital, and police said he was in good condition.
The driver of the Honda Accord, 37-year-old Seung Mi Yang, of Alexandria, stayed at the scene. He was charged with driving under the influence.
About 20 minutes after the first crash, before D.C. police put out a lookout notice for the hit-and-run vehicle, a Maryland State Police trooper drove up on upon a silver Mercury SUV traveling with only three tires on Interstate 270 south of Montrose Road, police said.
The suspect refused to take a alcohol breath-test and was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. He has been identified as Anthony Randolph, 40, of Germantown, and was being held at the Montgomery County jail on a $750,000 bond. He has not been charged in the fatal accident.
All lanes of the Key Bridge were shut down for several hours to all traffic as police investigated the accidents. The bridge was reopened shortly before 6 a.m. Monday.
