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Traffic Alert: Four-vehicle crash closes I-495 Express Lanes in Tysons

The I-495 North Express Lanes are blocked by a four-vehicle crash near the Dulles Toll Road in Tysons (via VDOT)

Updated at 6:30 p.m. — All lanes on I-495 have reopened.

Earlier: The northbound express lanes of the Capital Beltway (I-495) are partially closed at the Dulles Toll Road in Tysons after a crash involving four vehicles.

Virginia State Police responded to the “chain reaction crash” near the Dulles Toll Road at 4:33 p.m., a VSP spokesperson said.

No injuries have been reported, according to police.

The crash initially blocked all of the northbound I-495 Express Lanes, but traffic is now being allowed through on the left shoulder, per the Virginia Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras.

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Crash involving Town of Vienna trash truck blocks northbound Route 123 in Oakton

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(Updated at 5:50 p.m.) A man was taken to the hospital earlier this afternoon after a two-vehicle crash on Route 123 in Oakton.

Officers responded to the crash involving a sedan and a Town of Vienna trash truck at the Hibbard Street intersection at 2:06 p.m., according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The driver of the sedan was found lying on the ground, a dispatcher said on the police scanner via Open MHz.

“One person is being taken to the hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening,” the FCPD said. “Officers are on scene investigating.”

A fire engine from the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene blocking off eastbound Chain Bridge Road at the intersection. Congestion was building up on the main road and Hibbard, but the FCPD says “no long-term delays are expected.”

The trash truck driver told FFXnow that he was driving on Chain Bridge Road when the car came out of Hibbard Street and they collided.

“It’s a shame, two kids in the car,” the driver said. “I asked if [the injury] was serious, and they indicated that he’s hurt but not seriously. I don’t know much more than that.”

The FCPD didn’t immediately confirm the circumstances of the crash or whether children were involved.

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UPDATED: Man killed in three-vehicle crash on Route 50 in Merrifield

Police direct traffic at Route 50 and Pickett Road after a three-vehicle crash (via VDOT)

(Updated at 6:30 p.m. on 8/13/2023) An 85-year-old man died Friday (Aug. 11) after getting seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash on Arlington Blvd (Route 50) in Merrifield.

Paul Hession, a resident of the Churchill neighborhood in the McLean area, was a passenger in a 2015 Toyota Camry that was turning left from westbound Arlington Blvd to Stonehurst Drive around 11:44 a.m. on Friday, the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release on Saturday (Aug. 12).

“The driver of a second vehicle, a 2010 Toyota Prius, traveling eastbound on Arlington Boulevard, struck the Camry in the intersection,” police said. “After the initial collision, the Camry struck a third car, a 2023 Mercedes-Benz Eqs300, that was stopped at the intersection.”

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units were dispatched to the scene of the crash around 11:58 a.m., according to scanner traffic on Open MHz. At least one person had to be extricated from their vehicle.

Hession was taken to an area hospital, where he died. The drivers of all three vehicles were also hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Virginia Department of Transportation traffic cameras showed vehicle backups on Route 50 approaching Pickett Road, where police directed traffic at the Fairfax City border.

The crash occurred as other police and fire units were busy investigating a major two-vehicle crash on Route 50 at I-66 near Fair Oaks Mall. Route 50 was fully closed there, and both drivers were initially considered to be in life-threatening condition, the FCPD said.

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UPDATED: Drivers critically injured in crash on Route 50 at I-66 near Fair Oaks

Route 50 has been closed at I-66 after a two-vehicle crash near Fair Oaks (via Google Maps)

Updated at 6:40 p.m. on 8/13/2023 — Fairfax County police have determined that the crash on Route 50 started when the driver of a 2007 Jeep Laredo rear-ended a 2023 Lexus. The driver then hit a Land Rover and a guardrail, drove across the grass median and went airborne, striking a 2009 Ford U-Haul Truck.

The Jeep and U-Haul drivers were hospitalized with injuries initially considered life-threatening, but their condition has since been changed to non-life-threatening.

Police are still investigating whether alcohol, drugs or speed were a factor in the crash.

Updated at 3:30 p.m. — Route 50 has reopened to traffic, according to police.

Earlier: Two people have been taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle four-vehicle crash at the Route 50 and I-66 interchange near Fair Oaks Mall.

Eastbound Route 50 has been shut down at West Ox Road as officers investigate the crash, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The eastbound I-66 ramp to eastbound Route 50 and the I-66 West ramp to westbound Route 50 have also been closed.

Police initially reported that one person had been transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, but a later update stated that both drivers were in critical condition.

A Fairfax Alert on the road closure described the crash as “significant.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation advises drivers to expect delays. Its traffic camera system indicates that the east left and right shoulders of Route 50 are closed.

According to scanner traffic on OpenMHz, the incident involved two separate crash scenes with a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a U-Haul mini truck found overturned about a quarter-mile apart.

“We have a report of a Jeep Cherokee that flipped over the median with a female occupant still inside the vehicle,” a dispatcher told responders with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department at 11:11 a.m.

Per scanner traffic, the Jeep occupant had a broken arm and needed to be extricated.

The person who suffered life-threatening injuries was trapped in the driver’s front seat of the U-Haul. FCFRD responders reported that they had extricated the person around 11:35 a.m.

At least two other vehicles were reportedly involved in the crash, including an SUV that got flipped onto its driver’s side. The dispatcher reported at 11:38 a.m. that they got a call from someone who had pulled off at Route 50 and Waples Mill Road with two people in need of medical attention.

Map via Google Maps

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BREAKING: Pedestrian seriously injured in Franconia-Springfield Parkway crash

Westbound Franconia-Springfield Parkway is closed at Spring Village Drive after a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle (via FCPD/Twitter)

Updated at 8:50 p.m. — Franconia-Springfield Parkway has reopened after a driver hit a pedestrian earlier this evening.

Earlier: A pedestrian has been hospitalized after a vehicle crash on Franconia-Springfield Parkway in Springfield.

All westbound lanes have been closed to traffic at Spring Village Drive, according to police.

“The adult man was taken to the hospital in life-threatening condition,” the Fairfax County Police Department said shortly after 6 p.m.

According to scanner traffic, medics were dispatched to the scene around 5:29 p.m. A dispatcher reported at 5:30 p.m. reported that “someone hit a pedestrian that was crossing the road.”

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Child hospitalized by car crash on Richmond Highway in Groveton

Fairfax County police investigate a vehicle crash at Richmond Highway and Holly Hill Road in Groveton (via FCPD/Twitter)

(Updated at 3 p.m.) A child was taken to the hospital last night (Tuesday) after a car crash on Richmond Highway in the Groveton area.

Police and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units were dispatched to the intersection of Richmond Highway (Route 1) and Holly Hill Road around 8:53 p.m., according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

According to police, Jermaine Ridgely, 45, of Alexandria was driving north on Route 1 in a 2003 Infiniti when he hit a southbound 2010 Nissan Altima that was turning left into a parking lot in the 7100 block of Richmond Highway.

“A juvenile passenger in the Nissan Altima was seriously injured in the crash and was taken to an area hospital in life-threatening condition,” the Fairfax County Police Department said, noting that a medic with the fire department “witnessed the crash and immediately rendered medical aid.”

The child remains hospitalized, police said in an update today.

Scanner traffic suggested one other person was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but no other injuries were mentioned in the police news release.

Ridgely was arrested and faces a charge for driving under the influence, along with a citation for failing to obey a highway sign.

“Preliminarily, detectives believe speed and alcohol were contributing factors in the crash,” the FCPD said.

Ridgely is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Photo via FCPD/Twitter

One pedestrian killed, another seriously hurt in weekend crashes

A Fairfax County police car (file photo)

Pedestrians were casualties of two separate vehicle crashes this past weekend, Fairfax County police reported.

A 26-year-old pedestrian was killed early Saturday morning (July 8) in Bailey’s Crossroads by an apparently intoxicated driver, and then, early this morning (Monday), a man was taken to the hospital after a crash on Fairfax County Parkway and Stringfellow Road in Chantilly.

The man wasn’t considered to be in life-threatening condition, but police described the crash as “serious” in a 12:06 a.m. tweet.

For the fatal crash, eastbound Columbia Pike was shut down for an extended period after the driver of a 2010 BMW hit Luis Fernando Jimenez Rodriguez at the Columbia Pike and Powell Lane around 2:13 a.m., according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

“Preliminarily, detectives determined that the driver of a 2010 BMW was traveling eastbound on Columbia Pike near Lincolnia Road when it struck a pedestrian,” the FCPD said.

The driver didn’t stop at the scene, police said. An officer who first arrived at the scene told a dispatcher that track marks stretched all the way to Barcroft Plaza, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

Police found the BMW in the 6100 block of Marshall Drive. Per the scanner, an officer identified it as the vehicle because he found blood on the front bumper.

The vehicle owner and alleged driver was Benjamin Lopez Encinas, 33, of Woodbridge, according to the FCPD.

Encinas has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and is now in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

“Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this crash,” the FCPD said.

Rodriguez appears to be the fifth pedestrian killed in Fairfax County this year, according to Virginia crash data, which shows that there were 16 pedestrian fatalities through July in 2022.

Concerns about the safety of Columbia Pike, which has now been the site of at least nine fatal crashes since 2010, have prompted Fairfax County to pursue some improvements, including a crossing beacon at the intersection where Justice High School student Lesly Diaz-Bonilla was killed in November.

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JUST IN: Man charged with hit and run after crashing into numerous vehicles on Capital Beltway

The scene of a multi-vehicle crash south of Georgetown Pike on I-495 from a traffic camera (via VDOT)

A Falls Church man has been charged with a hit and run after crashing into multiple vehicles on the Capital Beltway (I-495) in McLean yesterday (Thursday), bringing traffic during the afternoon rush-hour to a halt.

In footage from a Virginia Department of Transportation traffic camera shared by public safety blogger Dave Statter, the driver of a white van was captured plowing into several northbound vehicles and then jumping over the median to the interstate’s southbound lanes around 4 p.m.

The incident began near the 44-mile marker at Georgetown Pike when the northbound 2012 Chevrolet Express van rear-ended a vehicle at the end of the I-495 Express Lanes, according to the Virginia State Police, which responded at 4:03 p.m.

“When it came to the end of the Express Lanes and encountered stopped traffic, the van failed to brake in time and rear-ended a vehicle,” VSP spokesperson Corinne Geller told FFXnow. “That sparked a multi-vehicle chain reaction crash. No injuries were reported in this incident.”

According to police, the driver pulled away from the crash and attempted to flee the scene, hitting more vehicles in the process:

As the van pulled away from that crash and tried to flee the scene, it struck several additional vehicles before it finally came to a stop, wedging itself, a passenger vehicle and a tractor-trailer against one another. The van’s driver then fled the scene on foot. With the assistance of Fairfax County Police, state police established a search perimeter in the immediate area. Fairfax County Police apprehended the driver and took him into custody.

Three people sustained “minor injuries” in the second set of crashes, the VSP said. The exact location of those crashes hasn’t been confirmed yet, but a traffic camera that caught the scene yesterday was listed as being near Old Dominion Drive.

Identified as Hernan de Jesus Ayala, 33, the driver has been charged with hit and run and failing to wear a seat belt by state police.

The Fairfax County Police Department didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether it has filed any charges of its own. Police scanner traffic suggested that Ayala had a pocket knife, but VSP didn’t confirm that in its statement to FFXnow.

UPDATED: Capital Beltway reopens after vehicle crashes clog traffic in McLean

A crash has created traffic backups on I-495 at Lewinsville Road (via VDOT)

Updated at 7:45 p.m. — All lanes on I-495 have now reopened after a pair of crashes during the afternoon rush hour, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Earlier: Two separate vehicle crashes have brought the Capital Beltway to a near-standstill in the McLean area just north of Tysons.

A Virginia State Police trooper told a dispatcher at 4:06 p.m. that there were “two major incidents,” both involving multiple vehicles, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

One crash involving a tractor-trailer occurred in the express lanes near the Lewinsville Road exit, initially blocking all northbound lanes on the Beltway (I-495), according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

As of 4:50 p.m., one lane of traffic on the far right side of the highway was getting by.

Virginia State Police also responded to a crash in the northbound I-495 lanes near Georgetown Pike at 4:12 p.m., a spokesperson said.

“There are no reported injuries. The crash remains under investigation,” VSP said.

VDOT traffic cameras showed multiple police cars and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue vehicles near Old Dominion Drive.

On the emergency scanner, a dispatcher told responders with the Virginia State Police that a witness saw a man leaving the scene of that crash with a pocket knife.

“On I-495N Express Lanes at mile marker 44.1 in the County of Fairfax, motorists can expect major delays due to other security/police activity,” VDOT’s 511 traffic information system said at 4:31 p.m. “The north left shoulder and left lane are closed. Traffic backups are approximately 2.0 miles.”

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Georgetown Pike car crash caused Saturday power outage in McLean area

A car crashed into a power switch box on Georgetown Pike, causing an outage from Great Falls to Tysons (courtesy anonymous)

About 1,400 people in the McLean and Great Falls area lost power Saturday night (May 20) due to a car crash on Georgetown Pike.

A photo sent to FFXnow shows a silver sedan that had smashed into a large green power box, coming to a rest against a streetlight.

The vehicle caused the outage when it crashed into the box, which had a power switch in it, according to Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox.

“Vehicle accidents are a common cause of power outages. There are transformers on poles and transformers on the ground and when vehicles hit them, they can and do cause outages,” Fox said, though she confirmed that this particular box wasn’t a transformer.

The outage mostly affected Great Falls and McLean, including Tysons. Georgetown Pike was closed between Kimberwicke Road and Potomac Knolls Drive for multiple hours, starting around 6:30 p.m., as crews worked to restore power, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The loss of electricity came just one day after a separate crash took down power lines on Old Courthouse Road.

That crash on Friday (May 19) involved a tractor-trailer that hit a pole near Lord Fairfax Road and got entangled in the power lines. The truck blocked Old Courthouse between Hull Road and Gallows Road, requiring a night-long closure for repairs.

The resulting power outage, though, was relatively limited, affecting fewer than 50 Dominion Energy customers, according to the utility’s outage map.

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