Fairfax County police have filed criminal charges in two crashes that killed pedestrians earlier this year.
A Woodbridge man was arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter on Friday (July 26) in connection to a May 24 crash near the Huntington Metro Station, the Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Monday).
Police previously charged Michael Rambudhan, 38, with driving while intoxicated but said an investigation to determine whether speed may also have played a role in the crash was still underway.
According to the original news release, police believe Rambudhan was driving northbound on North Kings Highway around 12:37 a.m. when he veered off the road near the Huntington Park Drive intersection, hit a median and struck Lucius Gaskins, a 54-year-old Alexandria resident.
Gaskins, who was walking on the sidewalk, died at the scene.
Rambudhan was held in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on a $25,000 bond. A preliminary hearing on the manslaughter charge is scheduled for Nov. 18, while an adjudicatory hearing is set for Aug. 6, according to court records.
The FCPD also announced yesterday that a Centreville woman has been charged with failing to stop for pedestrians after she reportedly struck two pedestrians while driving on Braddock Road in Centreville on June 24.
“Detectives determined [a 58-year-old woman] of Centreville, was driving a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee on eastbound Braddock Road,” the FCPD said in a press release on the Centreville crash. “Melgar made a left onto Pickwick Road and failed to yield to a pedestrian as she was walking within the crosswalk.”
The crash killed Lubia Marisol Vasquez Mateo, a 46-year-old Clifton resident described by her nephew as “a wonderful woman with a big heart.” It also left Mateo’s partner with serious injuries.
The woman was served a summons and released. The Fairfax County General District Court has scheduled an adjudicatory hearing for Sept. 4.
