WASHINGTON — The passenger of a vehicle is dead, and the driver arrested on a charge of murder, after a multivehicle crash Friday morning.
Forty-two-year old Rodney Bell, of Dale City, Virginia, was driving a Mercury Grand Marquis at a high rate of speed on South Capitol Street around 3 a.m., a news release said.
Bell struck a Volkswagen Passat that was stopped at a red light at South Capitol and First streets SW.
He continued, sliding sideways, and struck a Toyota Corolla that was stopped at a red light at South Capitol and Galveston streets SW.
Bell’s vehicle continued to slide until it mounted the curb and struck a metal traffic control pole, catching fire as a result of the collision, police said.
First responders arrived and found that Bell’s passenger, 32-year-old Kevin Thomas, of Temple Hills, Maryland, was dead.
Bell was arrested on charges of murder and possession of PCP.
Below is a map of where the crash took place.
WTOP’s John Domen and Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
