Fairfax County police are pursuing a manslaughter charge against the driver who allegedly crashed into an ambulance in Herndon last month, killing a passenger in his car.
Jose Lopez Martinez, a 23-year-old resident of Nokesville, was arrested on Tuesday (Dec. 2) after detectives brought the new charge, which comes on top of an initial charge of driving while intoxicated for the Nov. 25 crash.
Lopez Martinez was driving a 2007 Hyundai car west on Worldgate Drive “when he failed to yield the right of way and struck a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue ambulance responding to a call for service,” the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Officers responded to the crash at the Alton Square intersection around 4:05 p.m. Lopez Martinez and two Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department employees were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
However, Irvin Escobar Lujuan, a 35-year-old Sterling resident who was sitting in the Hyundai’s front passenger seat, was pronounced dead at Reston Hospital Center as a result of his injuries.
“Preliminarily alcohol and speed do appear to be factors in the crash,” the FCPD said in a Nov. 26 update.
According to police, the DWI charge is Lopez Martinez’s second in five years, making it a misdemeanor under Virginia law punishable by a fine of at least $500 and one month to a year in jail. He was released on his own recognizance after an arraignment on Nov. 26, according to online court records.
Arrested again on Dec. 2 for involuntary manslaughter, Lopez Martinez is now in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond following an arraignment yesterday (Wednesday).
He’s next scheduled to appear in Fairfax County General District Court for a hearing to adjudicate the DWI charge on Jan. 16, 2026, followed by a preliminary hearing on Feb. 17 for the manslaughter charge.
If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, a Class 5 felony in Virginia, he could face either one to 10 years in prison or up to a year in jail with a fine of $2,500 or less, depending on the jury or judge’s discretion.
