N. Glebe Road closed due to crash involving overturned vehicle
Power outage in the area of the crash on N. Glebe Road (via Dominion)
All lanes of N. Glebe Road are closed just south of Quincy Street due to a crash involving an overturned vehicle.
The single-vehicle crash took down power lines, according to scanner traffic, and the southbound lanes of Glebe are expected to be shut down for an extended period of time as a result.
One person was reportedly taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Police are on scene and investigating the cause of the crash and whether the driver might have been intoxicated.
Dominion, meanwhile, is reporting via its outage map that nearly 2,750 homes and businesses are without power in the area of the crash. The utility company expects power to be restored between 3-6 a.m.
LOCATION: N. Glebe Rd. at Henderson Rd. INCIDENT: Traffic Collision IMPACT: Southbound N. Glebe Rd. between Henderson Rd. and 4th St. N. will be shut down for an extended period of time. Seek alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/rTxxxNFRMc
LOCATION: 400-blk N. Glebe Rd. INCIDENT: Power Outage IMPACT: Power is out in the area of the 400-blk N. Glebe Rd. due to a traffic collision involving a power pole. There is no expected repair time. pic.twitter.com/qpWQcKqHaF
Eastbound I-66 at Exit 72 / Langston Blvd (via Google Maps)
Someone driving the wrong-way on I-66 in Arlington caused a crash that seriously injured three people, state police say.
The crash happened early this morning around 1:30 a.m., near one of the Langston Blvd exits between Rosslyn and Glebe Road.
“At approximately 1:23 a.m. Monday (Sept. 19), Virginia State Police received an emergency call concerning a vehicle driving west in the eastbound lanes of I-66,” VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller tells ARLnow. “As state troopers were responding, the wrong-way vehicle struck an eastbound vehicle head-on near Exit 72.”
“The driver of the wrong-way vehicle, and the driver and passenger in the eastbound vehicle were all transported to a nearby hospital for treatment for serious injuries,” Geller continued. “The crash remains under investigation and charges are pending.”
ARLnow is awaiting an update on the condition of the three people seriously hurt in the crash.
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts as of 9/15/22 (staff photo)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts as of 9/15/22 (staff photo)
Ireland’s Four Courts boarded up on 9/15/22 (staff photo)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts as of 9/15/22 (staff photo)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts as of 9/15/22 (staff photo)
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle reportedly crashed into it (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Immediate aftermath of the crash at Ireland’s Four Courts, before the fire spread (photo via Alan Henney)
The car that crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts is taken away on a flatbed tow truck (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) The rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse last month likely experienced “a medical emergency” before driving into the building, police say.
This preliminary explanation comes after Arlington County police previously ruled out drunk driving as well as malicious intent.
The crash set fire to the popular pub, situated next to the “T” intersection of N. Courthouse Road and Wilson Blvd, during a local company’s happy hour event. It triggered a large emergency response and road closures as people fled the fiery scene. More than a dozen people were hurt.
Police said today that all three pub-goers who were hospitalized with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries have now been released — a little over a month after they were admitted. One patient was still in critical condition and two others were in stable condition within a week of the crash.
The seriously injured people are expected to undergo a rehabilitation process as they continue to recover, we’re told.
In all, 15 people were injured, including nine brought to local hospitals. Of them, three were Four Courts employees hospitalized for less serious injuries, including smoke inhalation.
Four Courts Managing Partner Dave Cahill told ARLnow that the patrons who were seriously injured may not have survived but for other quick-thinking fellow pub-goers, including a volunteer firefighter, as well as first responders who arrived on scene just moments after the crash.
“Our thoughts and prayers have been with them for this whole time,” Cahill said of the victims. “They’re regulars who come in here all the time… we’re happy that they’ve started the next stage of recovery.”
Building inspectors determined that Four Courts is structurally sound but not fit for occupancy due to the extensive damage.
The pub is planning to rebuild, funded in part by a now-closed GoFundMe campaign that blew well past its $50,000 goal, raising just over $95,000. Tonight, fellow Arlington Irish pub Samuel Beckett’s (2800 S. Randolph Street) is hosting a fundraiser and silent auction for Four Courts staff.
Cahill told ARLnow today that insurance and other matters are still being worked out before construction can begin that would allow at least part of the pub to reopen. If demolition starts soon, he said, the best case scenario would be reopening in late spring or early summer of 2023.
When the doors swing back open, he wants customers to feel like nothing has changed, and for regulars to request the same TV channels and sit in the same seats they’ve sat in for years.
“We’re going to work and recreate Four Courts as close back to the original as possible,” he said. “We don’t want people to walk in here and think they’re in a different place. Things will be updated, obviously, but we want people to feel at home in the Four Courts.”
The only thing that many repeat customers would miss would be their personal mugs. Four Courts had a mug club with more than 1,475 mugs people purchased; added their names, football team logos and family crests to; and drank from whenever they came in.
“We lost a lot of mugs,” he said. “When the fire came, it melted the mug and left the handle. We’re sad about that. That was a big part of the brand.”
The Aug. 9 bike-on-bike crash on the Custis Trail in Rosslyn (image via Arlington County traffic camera)
Paul Kiendl doesn’t even remember what happened.
It was early August and he was on his bike, making his way to work via his regular route on the Custis Trail in Rosslyn. He recalls being stopped at a traffic light near the intersection of Langston Blvd and Fort Myer Drive.
Then, memories come in bits and pieces for Kiendl. Lying in a patch of poison ivy, in the back of the ambulance, and then being in the hospital.
It’s been about a month since the bike accident, which left Bluemont resident Kiendl with a severe spinal injury and nerve damage. He’s begun to piece together what exactly happened, believing he clipped another cyclist when it sped ahead of him at the traffic light.
“I think that was just a bicyclist that was trying to run a red light on Fort Myer Drive,” Kiendl tells ARLnow. “And I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Scanner: Two cyclists collided near the intersection of Langston Blvd and Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn. One is being taken to the hospital with minor injuries. pic.twitter.com/Ov483I4GKA
But knowing exactly the cause of the accident has proven to be very difficult. That’s because Arlington County Police Department didn’t prepare a crash report, as it would when a driver of a car hits a bike or pedestrian.
So, there’s no account of what happened, no identifying details, no interviews with witnesses, and no diagram of the crash.
The information about Kiendl’s crash was so sparse that a family member reached out to ARLnow, after seeing our brief post on Twitter, above. We did not have any information beyond what was in the tweet, however, and at the time the injuries involved were reported to be minor so no reporter was sent to the scene.
The lack of a crash report in keeping with police protocol, ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage notes. The county police department does not put together crash reports for bike-on-bike or bike-on-pedestrian incidents.
“ACPD follows Virginia law and guidance by the DMV for reporting crashes,” Savage said in a written response to ARLnow. “In Virginia, a crash report involving a bicycle is required only when the bicycle is involved with a motor vehicle in transport.”
Bruce Deming, the “bike lawyer,” thinks this is a very bad policy. He’s been practicing law in Arlington for more than 30 years, exclusively representing injured cyclists and pedestrians.
Deming notes that by not taking a crash report, there’s no information or official documents one could use to pursue any sort of civil compensation or insurance claims for help with medical bills.
“Why should the Arlington County police treat injured cyclists that are involved in a bike-on-bike collision as second-class citizens?” Deming rhetorically asks. “They’re badly injured and they need the information to pursue their own civil claims just as much as a motorist would need it.”
Per Savage, a crash report is taken in accordance with Virginia Code § 46.2-373 which says one must be prepared when a “motor vehicle accident” results in injury, death, or property damage of $1,500 or more.
As defined by Virginia Code § 46.2-100, the term “motor vehicle” does not include bicycles, scooters, e-bikes, mopeds, electric personal mobility devices, or motorized skateboards.
Just because a crash doesn’t involve a car, however doesn’t mean someone can’t be badlyinjured.
Deming recounts another situation back in 2015 when a client of his was severely hurt colliding with another bike in the Rosslyn/Courthouse neighborhood. Deming says the police showed up, but wouldn’t take any witness contact information or interview the other cyclist.
“Bike-on-bike crashes often result in terrible injuries. You’ve got two bodies and quite often [it’s] a head-on type of situation,” says Deming. “It doesn’t take a physics professor to understand the type of force that happens when you have two bodies collide at any kind of speed. It’s a terrible policy.”
Volvo drives down embankment at Dunkin’ drive-thru along N. Glebe Road (photo courtesy Amy H.)
Volvo drives down embankment at Dunkin’ drive-thru along N. Glebe Road (photo courtesy Amy H.)
Those in line to get coffee and donuts in the Buckingham neighborhood this morning were met with an unusual sight.
The driver of a white Volvo drove partially down an embankment next to the Dunkin’ drive-thru at 70 N. Glebe Road, becoming wedged between the sidewalk and the restaurant’s driveway. It’s not clear what led to the crash, though the drive-thru line is not typically associated with excess speed.
“I’m not sure what the story is or how the car ended up this way,” said a tipster, who called it an “odd scene.”
No emergency vehicles are seen in the photos above, which were taken around 7:45 a.m.
The Dunkin’ and its drive-thru lane opened in 2017, replacing a former KFC.
Pickup truck that crashed into and damaged the side of the Memorial Bridge (photo courtesy John Wilcox)
The driver of a pickup truck nearby ran off the side of the Memorial Bridge this evening.
The truck mounted the southern sidewalk and smashed through the decorative masonry on the side of the bridge, over the GW Parkway and the Mt. Vernon Trail. It was likely just a few feet away from falling off the side of the bridge and onto the trail.
Police described it as a single-vehicle crash. U.S. Park Police officers and Arlington firefighters were among those to respond to the scene. No information on injuries or the cause of the crash was immediately available.
The inbound lanes of the bridge were closed to traffic for a time after the crash but have since reopened.
Memorial Bridge underwent an extensive, two-year rehabilitation project that wrapped up in 2020. The work included cleaning, repairing and reinstalling the bridge’s “historic granite balustrade.”
It appears that the truck smashed through one of those sections of balustrade. Repairing it may take awhile.
Hunks of curbing, benches and hundreds of ornate 80-pound balusters, for the balustrade, or stone railing, were scattered across a large Lorton Stone company work yard in Upper Marlboro, Md., like pieces of a huge puzzle.
There, they were being power-washed and repaired, if needed, said National Park Service spokesman Jonathan Shafer.
Many of the pieces have been stained by rust over the years from passing cars and nicked by snowplows, said Lindy Gulick, a Park Service architectural conservator.
Missing parts are being replaced by new pieces that are glued in place and sculpted to fit.
The original balusters were handcrafted from stone cut in a quarry in Mount Airy, N.C.
Replacements for the few that could not be repaired are being made with the help of a computer and with stone from the same quarry, Gulick said.
More on the crash via social media:
Traffic Alert: Inbound Arlington Memorial Bridge closed for single car crash.
Major backup after GW Parkway blocked by crash (via Google Maps)
The northbound lanes of the GW Parkway were Friday afternoon blocked after reports of a “major” crash near the second scenic overlook.
The Arlington County Fire Department is among those that responded to the crash, south of Chain Bridge in Arlington. So far there’s no word on injuries nor the exact nature of the crash.
Northbound traffic was diverted onto Spout Run Parkway, but a significant number of drivers may have gotten stuck in the backup after Spout Run.
Drivers on the southbound GW Parkway were also seeing delays near the crash scene due to the emergency response.
Update at 1:50 p.m. — All lanes have reopened, according to U.S. Park Police.
Traffic Update: All lane closures on the GWMP have reopened.
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
When Timo Klotz saw the smoke and the gaping hole from across the street, he sprinted towards Ireland’s Four Courts.
“I ran across the intersection right there and followed the hole into the building, to go inside,” Klotz told ARLnow, a few days after a car barrelled into the Courthouse pub, critically injuring several people. “As soon as I saw what happened, I was like ‘I need to help.'”
A volunteer firefighter and EMT in Fairfax County with a job in emergency management, Klotz knew he had only a matter of seconds. Sifting through the wreckage, alongside Four Courts customers who also put themselves in harm’s way to help the injured, he helped pull people out of the pub and got them to safety only moments before the inferno engulfed the bar.
If it wasn’t for Klotz’s quick thinking and instincts, the situation might have been a whole lot worse.
“If it would have been 20 seconds more, yeah,” he said, trailing off a bit. “I don’t think they would have made it out.”
The fateful moment — last Friday, Aug. 11, around 6:45 p.m. — will be long etched in the memories of those who were there. A rideshare driver plowed a car into Ireland’s Four Courts at the end of a “T” where N. Courthouse Road and Wilson Blvd intersect. A total of 15 people were injured with three still remaining in the hospital. One person is still in critical condition, as of the last update from Arlington County police.
It remains unclear what led to the crash. Police said the driver is cooperating with authorities, didn’t do it intentionally, and alcohol was not a factor.
“The cause of the crash remains under active investigation and detectives continue to collect and review evidence and speak with witnesses to determine the events that preceded the crash,” an ACPD spokesperson told ARLnow yesterday (Thursday).
What is clear, though that the actions of Klotz and others likely saved lives.
Friday was Klotz’s last day working for the Arlington County Circuit Court before moving to a new job with Fairfax County’s Department of Emergency Management. So, he and several colleagues decided to have a going-away party down the street from his office, at Four Courts.
It was about 6:30 p.m. when he stepped out of the pub to move his car out of a parking garage that was set to close for the weekend. Klotz retrieved his car and parked it on N. Courthouse Road near Bayou Bakery. While getting out, that’s when he heard a loud bang.
“There’s always a lot of noise [around there], so I really didn’t make anything out of it,” he said.
But then he started hearing people screaming and seeing lots of commotion. Then, a person on the street said a car had ran into a building. Klotz ran and saw the bar he had been in only a few minutes earlier now had smoke pouring out of a large, jagged hole.
That’s when he made the split-second decision to go inside and help. Klotz told ARLnow that when he entered through the hole made by the Toyota Camry, he was stunned at what he saw.
“I couldn’t even make out that there was a car in there. There was ceiling, wires, cables, tables… everywhere,” Klotz said. “It was demolished. Like a bomb went off.”
Then he saw a person on the ground to his right. He helped that person up but saw another trapped under debris. Before he could even help them, he caught a glimpse of another person, bloody, lying on the ground.
“There’s people everywhere,” he said. “At that moment… I was almost overwhelmed to the point of thinking ‘what am I going to do? There’s so many people.'”
But Klotz’s instincts kicked in. As a volunteer firefighter, he had seen fires grow fast. As the smoke turned hot and flames started shooting out of the debris, Klotz knew there was one thing that had to happen now.
“We have a fire. We need to get people out,” he said, remembering that moment.
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Fire engulfs Ireland’s Four Courts after crash (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
The car that crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts is taken away on a flatbed tow truck (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Arlington County police say the rideshare driver who crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts on Friday did not do so intentionally and was not drunk.
Beyond that, not much is known — or, at least, being revealed publicly — about the circumstances that led to the fiery crash that severely injured several people inside the long-time Courthouse pub.
“The Arlington County Police Department continues to investigate the cause of Friday’s crash,” the police department said in a statement late Monday afternoon. “Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives do not believe the crash was an intentional act and alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor. The driver of the vehicle is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.”
“Detectives continue to encourage anyone with information related to this investigation to contact Detective K. Stahl at [email protected] or 703-228-7145,” ACPD said. “Information may also be reported anonymously to Arlington County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.”
Police said that three people are still in the hospital, including one who’s still in critical condition and two others that are now in stable condition.
Initially, police said four people had been taken to the hospital from the scene in critical condition. In all, 15 people were injured, including nine brought to local hospitals, six of whom have since been released.
ARLnow previously reported that the quick actions of customers and first responders to treat the injured and move them away from the growing inferno likely saved lives.
The pub and its staff will be helped by a GoFundMe campaign, which has blown past its $50,000 goal and raised more than $77,000 as of publication time. Four Courts employees, three of whom were hospitalized but have since been released, are also getting an assist from a fellow local Irish bar.
Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub, at 2800 S. Randolph Street in Shirlington, is organizing a fundraiser and silent auction on Thursday, Sept. 15 for Four Courts staff.
Already more than 1,000 people have said they’re going or expressed interest in the event on Facebook.
“We at Beckett’s and Kirwan’s on the Wharf would like to hold a fundraiser for the staff of Ireland’s Four Courts,” wrote owner Mark Kirwan. “We will have a silent auction and a night of fun and entertainment to raise money for these poor unfortunate souls who went through hell… Thank you in advance and let’s make this road ahead for these folks a bit easier.”
Firefighters and county building officials were at Four Courts on Monday. The pub’s general manager, Dave Cahill, told ARLnow this afternoon that Four Courts is still trying to determine how to move forward, depending on what the inspections find.
“We are working with the county and inspectors to determine the next course of action,” Cahill said. “We are extremely grateful for all the neighborhood support.”
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Immediate aftermath of the crash at Ireland’s Four Courts, before the fire spread (photo via Alan Henney)
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Ireland’s Four Courts on fire and an injured person being helped after a vehicle crashed into the pub (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Fire engulfs Ireland’s Four Courts after crash (photo courtesy Craig Smith)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
Damage inside Ireland’s Four Courts from crash and fire (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
The car that crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts is taken away on a flatbed tow truck (photo courtesy Dave Cahill)
The four people reported to be seriously injured when a car plowed into Ireland’s Four Courts last night may not have survived but for the quick actions of fellow pub-goers and first responders.
That’s according to Dave Cahill, long-time manager of the Courthouse fixture, which remains closed after last night’s crash and fire.
At last check, the four critically injured people were still hospitalized, but the hope is all four will pull through, we’re told. Cahill tells ARLnow that all three Four Courts employees who were injured and brought to the hospital have since been released.
The crash happened around 6:45 p.m. Friday, as people were gathered near the front of the pub for a local company’s happy hour event.
A gray Toyota Camry — ARLnow has heard from multiple sources that it was being operated as a rideshare vehicle — reportedly came speeding up N. Courthouse Road and drove through the “T” intersection, slamming directly into the pub. It was nearly 20 feet inside the business, Cahill said, and started to catch fire almost immediately.
Quick-thinking customers sprang into action, coming from the back of the restaurant to the smoldering wreckage to help severely injured customers, the driver, and at least one passenger of the car, who was also hurt. Photos taken as fire started to engulf the car and the pub show several people carrying one man — who can be seen in a photo taken seconds earlier slumped over in front of the car — to safety outside.
Police and firefighters arrived on scene as employees and customers were still trying to flee the pub. Photos and a TikTok video show police officers running into Four Courts as smoke billowed out. In frantic police radio transmissions, first arriving officers requested “a lot of ambulances” and reported “a lot of people” still inside the restaurant as fire spread.
“It’s an image I’ll never forget,” said Cahill.
Without customers risking their own safety to save the injured, and without the lightning-fast response of police and medics — ACPD headquarters is a couple of blocks from Four Courts and a fire station is a short distance down Wilson Blvd — “it could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Also helping: the pub was significantly less crowded than usual for a Friday, a server told NBC 4.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt,” said Cahill. Asked about when the pub might reopen, Cahill said “we’re not thinking about it right now.”
Building inspectors determined that Four Courts is structurally sound but not fit for occupancy due to the extensive damage. Photos of the interior from this morning, shared with ARLnow, show a vast swath of charred flooring, fixtures and ceiling near the front of the pub.
The car, meanwhile, was removed from inside and hauled away on a flatbed tow truck early this morning. Video shows heavy front-end damage from the collision.
Cahill said management will start to assess repairs and future plans next week, but noted that the kitchen and the newer rear of the pub is largely intact. The current hope is that insurance will help to pay employees and keep them on staff.
A GoFundMe page, which Cahill says was set up by a regular customer, will also help. As of publication it has raised more than $7,500 of a $50,000 goal.
A total of 14 people were injured, including eight who were brought to local hospitals, police and fire officials said last night. There’s still no word on what led to the crash.
Update at 4 p.m. — The Arlington County police and fire departments just issued the following joint statement. Two of the victims remain in critical condition, the statement says, while the other two seriously injured people have been stabilized.
Ballston at twilight with storm clouds looming (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Issues at Court House Station — Noted in a new Washington Metrorail Safety Commission report on the maintenance, cleaning and inspections of automatic train control systems: “For example, at Court House Station on the Orange and Silver Lines, a technician noted racks that were dusty and covered with black soot and noted that an electronic-friendly vacuum cleaner was required for proper cleaning, but no work order was opened. The records also showed missing manuals and reference documents, but no work order was opened.” [WMSC]
Anniversary of Pentagon Officer’s LODD — “Pentagon Police Cpl. George Gonzalez died in the line of duty one year ago today. At the Training Range named for him, members of his Pentagon Force Protection Agency platoon honored Gonzalez again on Tuesday.” [WJLA]
School Board Race Fundraising — “For the period through June 30, independent James ‘Vell’ Rives IV outraised Democratic endorsee Bethany Sutton by $14,286 to $13,132, according to figures from the Virginia Department of Elections. But from those figures you have to subtract the $7,000 loan that Rives gave his campaign, and also chop off a couple of thousand dropped in by Sutton family members to hers, when parsing the data.” [Sun Gazette]
Light Pole Knocked Down on the Pike — “Scanner: Columbia Pike temporary shut down at S. Wakefield Street after a vehicle ran into a county light pole, knocking it down. Driver reported to be injured, but not seriously.” [Twitter]
It’s Friday — After a stormy Thursday night comes another hot day with rain and strong storms in the evening and overnight. High of 91 and low of 76. Sunrise at 6:15 am and sunset at 8:17 pm. [Weather.gov]
