WASHINGTON — A man charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after his car jumped a sidewalk and struck several people outside a D.C. bar on New Year’s Eve has been ordered held until trial, despite his attorney’s argument the driver was unconscious from a crash seconds earlier.
Malik Marvin Lloyd’s attorney Roderick Thompson suggested his client had been knocked unconscious and the air bags of the Chrysler he was driving had deployed when he hit an occupied Honda CRV on 17th Street NW and ricocheted onto the sidewalk in the 1600 block of L St NW near the nightspot Barcode.
Prosecutor Katherine Earnest disputed the notion that Lloyd was unconscious at the time of the crash, saying he accelerated as bystanders tried to flag him down for striking the Honda.
Arresting officer David Naples of the Metropolitan Police Department testified in a probable cause hearing before Superior Court Judge Joseph Beshouri that Lloyd acknowledged drinking and striking a car when interviewed by police after the crash.
“He told me he had two champagnes,” Naples said, adding that Lloyd’s speech was slow and slurred. Naples said the defendant also admitted smoking marijuana earlier in the evening.
After the initial crash, the car Lloyd was driving hit a tree, a tree box and seven pedestrians before crashing into a light pole.
The charging documents named the two most seriously injured victims, Brian Royal and Nenad Kamenovic, who are expected to recover from their injuries.
“Thank God for that light pole,” Judge Beshouri said as he ordered Lloyd held until trial.
The 25-year-old sobbed quietly into his hands and looked with anguish toward his parents as he was led from the courtroom. If convicted, Lloyd faces up to 10 years in prison.
