The suspected driver in a crash that killed a pedestrian in Bailey’s Crossroads last month is now facing additional charges.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced today that 33-year-old Woodbridge resident Benjamin Lopez Encinas has been charged with aggravated DWI manslaughter and felony hit and run.
“Yesterday, detectives served the warrants on Lopez Encinas who remains held without bond,” the FCPD said.
Lopez Encinas had already been charged with a driving under the influence of alcohol for allegedly hitting and killing 26-year-old Luis Fernando Jimenez Rodriguez on July 8.
According to police, Lopez Encinas was driving east on Columbia Pike in a 2010 BMW when he hit Jimenez Rodriguez at the Powell Lane intersection.
Lopez Encinas didn’t stop at the crash site, but officers later located his vehicle in the 6100 block of Marshall Drive. Scanner traffic indicated that the vehicle was identified by blood on its front bumper.
The Woodbridge resident remains in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. After an arraignment on Friday (Aug. 11), he’s scheduled to appear in court for an adjudicatory hearing on the original, misdemeanor DWI charge on Aug. 31 and a preliminary hearing on the new felony charges on Oct. 25, according to court records.
Jimenez Rodriguez was the fifth pedestrian to die in a vehicle crash on Fairfax County roads this year. Since then, the total number of pedestrian fatalities has climbed to seven, according to the FCPD, with 86-year-old McLean resident Brigitte Forster as the most recent victim.
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