WASHINGTON — One robbery suspect died during a police pursuit that led to crashes and major delays on Beltway’s Inner Loop in College Park through the Friday evening rush hour.
The Montgomery County police received a call about a commercial robbery at a check-cashing business in the 11200 block of Georgia Avenue, in Silver Spring, at about 12:35 p.m. Multiple armed suspects in masks fled the scene in a white Chevy van, said Montgomery County Police Department spokesman Capt. Paul Starks.
Officers spotted the suspects’ vehicle and pursued it through Montgomery County and onto the Inner Loop in Prince George’s County, Starks said.
On the Beltway crowded with Friday-afternoon traffic, the suspects’ damaged vehicle crashed into two other vehicles — an abandoned vehicle on the right shoulder and a box truck in the right lane of the Inner Loop.
One of the suspects then got out of the vehicle and ran away. An unmarked police vehicle struck the suspect, who later died from his injuries, Starks said.
“Maryland State Police are conducting that part of the investigation, and when they are through they will share that information with the community as well as Montgomery County police,” Starks said.
Police took four other suspects into custody; in their vehicle, police recovered multiple firearms, Starks said. They are facing armed robbery charges, he added.
The suspects may have been involved in previous robberies in the area — a Sept. 1 robbery of a food truck and a Sept. 22 robbery of a check-cashing convenience store and gas station, both in the Wheaton area near Randolph and Veirs Mill roads, Starks said.
“We can’t confirm they are involved, but that’s something investigators are looking at,” he said.
Police have not yet released details about the identities of the suspects.
The crash and police response caused Inner Loop lanes to stop after Route 1 in College Park for hours. All lanes reopened around 6:30 p.m. — almost five hours after the initial closures.
Below is a map with the location near the traffic delay:
