A D.C. man is under arrest and faces multiple charges, included firearms violations, following a high-speed chase stemming from multiple crashes that injured another driver on the Capital Beltway on Wednesday.
Maryland State Police said Shaquille N. Scott, 23, of the District, is charged with multiple firearms violations, motor vehicle theft, malicious destruction of property and numerous traffic charges after the 100-plus-mile-per-hour chase that began in Virginia and ended in Maryland’s Montgomery County.
Virginia State Police received a call for a vehicle that struck the Jersey wall on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and described the driver as “all over the roadway.” Moments later, another caller reported a gray sedan driving erratically on the Inner Loop of the Beltway after the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Maryland State Police said in a news release.
A Virginia State Police officer said police observed “erratic driving” by the driver of a 1994 Lexus ES 300 and attempted to stop the driver on Interstate 495 near Braddock Road. “The Lexus sped away in excess of 100 mph,” according to authorities.
Police said Scott continued to “drive erratically, exiting and entering the highway and crossing medians” as he continued to flee into Maryland, crossing over the American Legion Bridge.
Maryland State Police said a preliminary investigation indicates that’s where the “hit and run crash” occurred, involving a white Kia SUV, a gray Dodge pickup truck and a Virginia State Police patrol car that was in pursuit of the Lexus.
April Garong, 36, was the Virginia woman behind the wheel of the Kia. She was taken to a Fairfax County hospital for her injuries. Edgar Adiel Romero Mejia, 35, who was the Maryland man driving the Dodge, refused medical treatment at the scene and the state trooper was uninjured, according to police.
Police said they believe Scott struck the vehicles, exiting the Lexus and continued to elude police by attempting to maneuver through traffic to flee the scene on foot.
Less than an hour after the incident, Montgomery County Police said officers located and arrested Scott about 5 miles from the crash scene at a fast-food restaurant in the 5200 block of River Road in Bethesda.
Maryland State Police said a loaded rifle with the serial number filed off was found outside of the Lexus, which had been reported stolen from D.C.
Scott is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville, police said.
A map of the area where Scott was arrested is below.
