One person is dead and three other people are injured after an apparently alcohol-fueled crash on Worldgate Drive in Herndon that involved an ambulance.
A worker on the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department’s ambulance 436 reported around 4:02 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 25) that they were “involved” in a collision at the intersection of Worldgate Drive and Alton Square outside WorldGate Plaza, according to scanner traffic.
“Vehicle crashed into us. Vehicle is smoking. We are checking the driver right now. Me and my driver appear to be okay,” the worker said, adding that there appeared to be two people in the other vehicle, one of whom wasn’t moving.
FCFRD units that responded to assist with the crash said the other vehicle was a “two-door sports car” that sustained “heavy damage to the front.”
Found trapped in the car’s passenger seat, Irvin Escobar Lujuan, a 35-year-old Sterling resident, was transported with life-threatening injuries to Reston Hospital Center, where he was pronounced deceased, according to the Fairfax County Police Department, which dispatched officers to the crash at 4:05 p.m.
The car’s driver — Jose Lopez Martinez, 23, of Nokesville — and two Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel were also taken to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening, police said.
Herndon police also responded to the scene to handle traffic control, stating at 5:20 p.m. that Worldgate Drive at Alton Square “will be closed several hours for the accident investigation.” The road ultimately reopened around 9:30 p.m.
A different unit was dispatched to handle the medical call that ambulance 436 was responding to, according to the scanner.
UPDATE: The roadway will be closed several hours for the accident investigation. FCPD will take over the investigation due to a county vehicle being involved. https://t.co/yfsPtybIvl
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) November 25, 2025
Driver charged with DWI
Based on a preliminary investigation, detectives found that the ambulance was attempting to turn onto Alton Square when Lopez Martinez allegedly “failed to yield the right of way” and struck the emergency vehicle with his 2007 Hyundai car, the FCPD said in an update on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
The ambulance had its “full emergency equipment,” including sirens, activated at the time of the collision, police said.
Lopez Martinez has been charged with driving while intoxicated — his second such offense in five years, according to the FCPD, which also believes that speed was a factor in the crash.
He is currently in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center following an arraignment at Fairfax County General District Court this morning (Wednesday). An adjudicatory hearing has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2026, online court records show.
