The driver involved in last month’s fatal motorcycle crash on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) has been charged with failing to yield on a left turn.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Monday) that its detectives had arrested the 35-year-old man from Bailey’s Crossroads and charged him with the traffic violation. He was released from custody after being served a summons.
An investigation found that the driver was headed west on Leesburg Pike in a 2000 Acura sedan and attempted to turn left onto Glen Carlyn Drive around 11 p.m. on March 10, according to the police.
“This caused the victim, who was riding a motorcycle at the time, to collide with Machado’s vehicle,” the FCPD said.
Alejandro Portillo, a 19-year-old from Arlington, was riding a 1996 Yamaha motorcycle east on Leesburg Pike in the left through-lane when he crashed into the sedan, police said in the initial news release.
Officers responded to the scene in Bailey’s Crossroads around 11:10 p.m. Portillo was taken to a hospital, where he died that evening.
Like in a 2022 crash on West Ox Road that killed a motorcyclist, the police investigation found that the driver’s actions in this case didn’t meet Virginia’s standards for a reckless driving or involuntary manslaughter charge, according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Failure to yield the right-of-way can constitute reckless driving under state law, but it only applies in instances where the driver “fails to bring his vehicle to a stop immediately before entering a highway from a side road when there is traffic approaching” within 500 feet of the entrance.
“Though this tragic incident resulted in the death of one of our community members, the charge brought against the defendant is the appropriate one and reflects the alleged facts of the case,” Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson Laura Birnbaum said.
Court proceedings in the West Ox Road crash concluded on Feb. 27 with the driver being fined $50, an outcome that “disappointed” the mother of Andrew Dearing, the motorcyclist who was killed.
According to the Fairfax County General District Court, Virginia imposes uniform fines for traffic offenses that can’t be altered by a clerk or magistrate, though it doesn’t restrict the amount that a judge could charge if the case reaches a court hearing. The total for failing to yield on a left turn is $97, including court costs and processing fees.
The driver in the crash that killed Portillo is scheduled to appear in court for an adjudicatory hearing on July 3, according to court records.
Image via Google Maps
When Andrea Brubaker entered the Fairfax County Courthouse on Feb. 27, she expected to see a trial with witnesses testifying and evidence presented against the driver who had crashed into her son, killing him, almost one-and-a-half years earlier.
Instead, she watched the driver leave the courtroom after a brief talk with a judge through his son, who translated, to pay a $50 fine for failing to yield on a left turn.
Recalling that morning a couple of days later, Brubaker told FFXnow that she was “saddened by the outcome” and “shocked” by what she saw as a “lack of attention” paid to the case by the prosecutor.
“Overall, I was disappointed that there was not a trial so that a courtroom, a judge, myself, and others could hear the facts of this case,” Brubaker said. “I had assumed at a minimum, that he would be found guilty of the two driving infractions he was charged with, but for some reason, the prosecutor decided against it. The defendant did not offer any remorse or explanation to the court, nor was it asked for by the court.”
Brubaker’s son, Andrew Dearing, died on Oct. 25, 2022 after the driver of a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed into him while he was riding his 2018 Yamaha MT07 motorcycle on West Ox Road in Fair Oaks, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
In an initial news release, police said a preliminary investigation indicated that the motorcyclist had “proceeded straight through” the Ox Hill Road intersection and struck the Jeep, which then hit a pedestrian signal and collided with a 2013 Lexus GS350 sedan.
However, almost a month later, the FCPD announced that its detectives had charged the Jeep driver on Nov. 18 with two traffic violations: failing to yield on a left turn and failing to obey a traffic signal.
“Detectives determined [the driver], 79, of Fairfax was driving in the northbound turn lane on West Ox Road waiting to turn left onto Ox Hill Road,” the FCPD said. “[He] did not yield to the operator of a 2018 Yamaha MT07 motorcycle traveling southbound on West Ox Road resulting in the crash.”
Dearing was thrown from the motorcycle, which got totaled, according to a police crash report. He died that evening in a hospital at 27 years old.
The charges, explained
Brubaker says she was surprised to not see more serious charges, but according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the crash didn’t involve the kind of negligent or reckless behavior needed to meet Virginia’s standards for involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving.
In Virginia, involuntary manslaughter applies to fatal crashes where someone was driving under the influence, and reckless driving involves behavior careless enough “to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.” Examples include speeding, driving in the wrong lane, driving with faulty brakes or passing another vehicle when the driver’s view is obstructed by a hill or curve.
According to the police crash report, the driver in this case didn’t have the right-of-way, and both his and Dearing’s vision may have been obscured by stopped cars. But the crash didn’t involve any health issues, distractions or intoxication. Read More
A 19-year-old man from Arlington died Sunday night (March 10) after reportedly crashing into a sedan while riding his motorcycle in Bailey’s Crossroads.
Officers responded to the intersection of Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and Glen Carlyn Drive at 11:10 p.m. on Sunday for a crash involving a 1996 Yamaha motorcycle and a 2000 Acura sedan, the Fairfax County Police Department said yesterday (Monday) in a news release.
“Preliminarily, detectives determined the driver of the Acura was traveling westbound on Leesburg Pike attempting to make a left turn onto Glen Carlyn Drive when he was struck on the passenger side by the motorcyclist which was eastbound on Leesburg Pike in the left through-lane,” the FCPD said.
Alejandro Portillo, the motorcyclist, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to police, the Acura driver remained at the scene of the crash and didn’t experience any injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
Portillo is the eighth person who wasn’t a pedestrian to be killed in a traffic crash on Fairfax County roads this year, according to the FCPD. At this time in 2023, there had been three such fatalities.
This is the county’s first fatal crash of 2024 involving a motorcyclist, but seven motorcyclists died in crashes last year, a fatality rate matched in 2022, according to traffic data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
In the most recent crash, an Ashburn man was charged with reckless driving for allegedly speeding when he crashed into Zafeer Piracha, 27, of Lorton, who was riding a motorcycle on Route 28 in the Chantilly area.
Portillo is the second person to die in a crash in the Bailey’s Crossroads section of Leesburg Pike this year. Gladys Bilbao, a 93-year-old Falls Church resident, died last month from injuries she sustained as a passenger in a collision between two Toyota sedans at the South Jefferson Street intersection on Feb. 16.
The Route 7 corridor in Bailey’s Crossroads was identified as particularly dangerous for pedestrians in a 2022 report by immigrant advocacy organization CASA and nonprofit Coalition for Smarter Growth.
Image via Google Maps
An Ashburn man was charged last week with reckless driving — almost a month after his alleged speeding killed a motorcyclist on Route 28.
Gael Cruchet, 53, received a summons on Friday (Dec. 15) charging him with exceeding the speed limit by over 20 mph while driving a 2016 Acura TLX sedan in the lead-up to the crash on Nov. 16, the Fairfax County Police Department announced.
According to police, Cruchet was driving northbound on Route 28 (Sully Road) prior to Westfields Blvd when he hit Zafeer Piracha, 27, of Lorton, who was headed in the same direction on a 2022 Kawasaki motorcycle.
“The driver of the Acura struck Piracha causing him to separate from the motorcycle,” the FCPD said in a press release on Nov. 17.
Officers responded to the Route 28 and Westfields intersection in Centreville at 9:01 p.m. Piracha died at the scene, while Cruchet was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
At that time, that crash was the 14th fatal one in Fairfax County this year that didn’t involve a pedestrian, according to the FCPD. Since then, the total number of fatal vehicular crashes has climbed to 19, matching the number reported in 2022.
Including pedestrians, there have been 39 people killed in crashes in the county this year, a decline from 66 fatalities in 2022, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data.
Route 28 at Westfields Blvd was also the site of a two-vehicle crash in May 2022 that hospitalized two people who ultimately survived.
Image via Google Maps
A driver was killed and a motorcyclist seriously injured in two separate crashes in Fairfax County this morning (Thursday).
The fatal crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. on the Capital Beltway (I-495) near Eisenhower Avenue in the Rose Hill area, according to Virginia State Police.
“A tractor-trailer and a Honda sedan collided in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 near Eisenhower Ave,” the VSP said in a brief news release. “Both vehicles came to a stop on the left shoulder.”
The sedan wound up “under the front of the tractor-trailer,” trapping the car’s driver, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
The sedan driver, an adult woman, died at the scene, police said. As of 6:37 a.m., police were still in the process of notifying the woman’s family.
“The crash remains under investigation,” a VSP spokesperson said. “The Virginia State Police Fairfax Division Crash Reconstruction Team and Motor Carrier Safety Team responded to the scene to assist with the investigation.”
Auto-vs-Truck crash on innerloop Beltway with probable fatality, southbound I-95 prior to Eisenhower Ave in Alexandria area. #VATraffic @AlexandriaNow @ffxnow pic.twitter.com/O1NlZRHilm
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) November 9, 2023
Just a few hours later, around 4:25 a.m., Fairfax County police and emergency medical services responded to a reported hit-and-run that critically injured a motorcyclist on Richmond Highway at Fairfax County Parkway in Fort Belvoir.
“Male motorcyclist hit by a red sedan. Driver of sedan fled the scene,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a tweet at 5:32 a.m. “Motorcyclist was taken to hospital w/ injuries considered life-threatening.”
According to the police scanner, a dispatcher reported that the motorcyclist “was down” in the roadway and said “their leg is gone.” The responsible vehicle reportedly sustained “heavy front-end damage.”
“It’s going to look like fleeing vehicle shouldn’t have any headlights at the moment,” an officer said at 4:34 a.m. “They’re all on the ground here.”
Southbound Richmond Highway at the intersection was closed for the police investigation. The roadway has now reopened after the vehicle and driver responsible for the crash were located, the FCPD said at 9:12 a.m.
The motorcyclist remains hospitalized, according to police.
Officers on scene of a hit & run crash at Rt.1 & Rt. 286 in Ft. Belvior. Male motorcyclist hit by a red sedan. Driver of sedan fled the scene. Motorcyclist was taken to hospital w/ injuries considered life-threatening. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/70qU9eSRRv
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) November 9, 2023
Virginia State Police are investigating a fatal motorcycle crash that occurred on I-66 in the Oakton area last Saturday (Aug. 19).
At 8:24 p.m., Cody P. Riley, a 36-year-old resident of Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, was headed east in the I-66 Express Lanes “at an excessive rate of speed” when he lost control of his 2018 Yamaha FZ09 motorcycle near Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road), VSP said in a news release today (Thursday).
“[The motorcycle] operator was thrown from the vehicle, which came to rest on the left shoulder of the Express Lanes,” VSP said.
Riley died from his injuries at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Police say Riley was wearing a helmet. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
There have been five fatal crashes involving a motorcycle in Fairfax County so far this year, exceeding the four such crashes recorded in 2022 through August, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data.
A Springfield motorcyclist was killed in a Reston crash Friday (June 16) night, according to Fairfax County police.
The 37-year-old man — identified as Dominique Hunt-Brown — was traveling southbound on Fairfax County Parkway when he ran a red light and struck a Sienna that was trying to turn left from Sunset Hills Road onto Fairfax County Parkway on a green light, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Hunt-Brown was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The crash happened shortly before 8 p.m. Detectives are investigating if speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
No other injuries were reported.
Friday’s crash is the seventh non-pedestrian-related fatal crash that the FCPD has recorded in the county to date. Last year, there were four non-pedestrian-related fatal crashes.
Officers are on scene of a fatal motorcycle vs a car accident at southbound Fairfax County Pkwy near Spring St. The motorcyclist, an adult man, was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries where he was pronounced deceased. Please avoid area. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/jV5ryfQHe5
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) June 17, 2023
A 46-year-old motorcyclist died in a crash on Hooes Road in Lorton late last week.
Springfield resident Samuel Gensler was riding a 2001 Harley Davidson north on Hooes Road Friday (May 19) afternoon when he lost control at the curve approaching the Crosspointe Glen Way intersection, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
According to police, Gensler veered off the roadway, “struck a driveway and was separated from the motorcycle.”
Police officers responded to the scene at 4:54 p.m. Gensler was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.
“Detectives continue to investigate to determine whether speed and alcohol were factors in the crash,” the FCPD said in a news release on Saturday (May 20).
Gensler is the sixth non-pedestrian to be killed in a crash on Fairfax County roads this year — double the number of fatalities seen at this point in 2022, according to the FCPD. Earlier this month, another motorcyclist died in a crash on Richmond Highway in Lorton.
There have also been four pedestrian deaths, most recently when a fire engine hit a woman in Reston.
Those numbers from the FCPD don’t include highway incidents, such as last week’s fatal crash with a deer on the Dulles Access Road in Tysons. In total, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has recorded 11 fatalities in Fairfax County this year, though state data doesn’t show any deaths in May yet.
A motorcyclist has been taken to the hospital with serious injuries after crashing on Route 7 in Seven Corners.
The westbound lanes of Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Patrick Henry Drive have been closed, as Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives investigate the crash, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
The biker’s injuries are considered life-threatening, according to police. The crash appears to have only involved the one vehicle, FCPD spokesperson Tara Gerhardt told FFXnow.
Drivers are advised to find an alternate route.
Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives are responding to Leesburg Pike & Patrick Henry Dr in Seven Corners for a motorcycle crash. Driver taken to the hospital with injuries considered life threatening. WB Leesburg Pike at Patrick Henry Drive is closed. Use alternate route. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/V5jZcOrMhX
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) January 4, 2023
The Fairfax County Police Department’s motor squad encountered an emergency of its own while responding to an incident early this afternoon.
A motorcycle officer was seriously injured in a collision with a Jeep on Braddock Road that police believe was attempting to get out of the squad’s way, FCPD Public Affairs Bureau Commander Lt. Dan Spital said at a media briefing.
“Our officer had serious injuries,” Spital said. “At this point, he’s conscious and alert. We’re praying first for recovery for him, but we’re lucky it wasn’t more serious than it could’ve been.”
According to Spital, the motor officers were traveling west on Braddock near George Mason University’s Fairfax campus in response to an emergency situation elsewhere in Fairfax County.
When they passed through the Roanoke River Road intersection shortly after 12:30 p.m., a silver Jeep in the middle lane noticed the police lights and sirens and started to merge into the right lane, where two officers were riding.
“One of the officers was able to avoid the vehicle that cut in front of them. Unfortunately, one of our motor officers was unable to avoid a collision,” Spital said. “A motor officer did strike the back of a Jeep and was thrown from his motorcycle, and he hit the pavement.”
Officers are on scene of crash involving an FCPD motor officer at Braddock Rd & Roanoke River Rd. Officer taken to hospital with serious injuries. Braddock Rd is closed. Please use another route. pic.twitter.com/UT8Hfq7PbR
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 9, 2022
The injured officer was transported to a hospital, where police say his condition has stabilized. He is a veteran of the FCPD motor squad with at least 16 to 17 years of experience in the department, according to Spital.
Spital said the Jeep driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. Police are also interviewing other witnesses to the crash to determine the circumstances that led up to it, though the FCPD seems to preliminarily believe that the driver wasn’t intentionally cutting off its officers.
Police haven’t determined yet whether the driver is a GMU student or why they were traveling in the area.
“Before we can make any determination on fault at this point, we do have to make sure that everybody is interviewed and we come up with a larger picture of exactly what took place,” Spital said.
Spital said he’s “not aware” of the Braddock/Roanoke River intersection being considered dangerous. Virginia data shows one other crash there this year in January and multiple crashes with injuries in previous years, but no fatalities have been reported since the interactive data report began in 2010.
