Beltway crash involved DUI drivers
UPDATED June 12: A crash on the beltway in Annandale on June 11 resulted in two DUI arrests and an injured Virginia State Police trooper.
Shortly after 3 a.m., was dispatched to a sedan that had stopped in a northbound lane of I-495 near the Little River Turnpike exit.
The driver, Erica Bernard, 43, of Albright, W.Va., was still in the vehicle and was refusing to cooperate with the trooper to exit the vehicle or move it to a safer location on the shoulder, the Virginia State Police reports.
While the trooper was talking to the driver, a Jeep Cherokee struck a tractor-trailer that had stopped due to the travel lane being blocked by the sedan.
The impact of that crash caused the Jeep to spin around and strike the trooper’s patrol car, which then struck the sedan, The sedan then struck the trooper while he was standing next to the driver’s side of the sedan. The trooper’s patrol car was positioned behind the sedan with its emergency lights activated.
The trooper sustained minor injuries and was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital for evaluation.
Bernard , who was still seated inside the vehicle when it was struck, was also treated for minor injuries sustained in the crash.
Bernard was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, obstruction, possession of a Schedule I or II substance, refusal to take a blood or breath test, and improperly stopping a vehicle on a highway.
The driver of the Jeep Cherokee, Joanna Hatch, 35, of Arlington, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Bernard and Hatch were transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In other highway news, Dave Statter reports that police blocked traffic on the I-395 express lanes near Edsall Road during rush hour this morning to protect a goose family trying to cross.
“Despite a police escort, the geese were just as inconsiderate as so many other I-395 drivers who will do anything not to miss their exit,” Statter tweeted. “The geese went rogue and crossed about six lanes of I-395 in order to get to Edsall Road.
“The geese not only honked back at all the horns, they gave the other drivers the bird.”
2 losers DUI. I hope they get harsh punishments.
Once again, you display your complete lack of journalistic integrity. A police officer gets injured trying to keep us safe, and you put a story at the end of this story about ducks crossing the street. Must be nice living in the plush North side of Annandale where no crime is happening.
This is a BLOG. And it’s FREE.
Local news is a precious, rare commodity these days. I’m grateful to Annandale Today for the service they provide to our community. I’m a better informed citizen and appreciate the wide variety of topics covered here. I’m certainly not going to get bent out of shape because two different incidents are mentioned on the same page; the author’s respect for the injured motorists, including the police officer, is clear to me.