Clara Barton |  |
The following Incident Reports were extracted from the NPS Morning Reports/Coalition Reports from 1989-2025. They are not a complete record of all incidents which occurred in this park during this timeframe. INCIDENTS | |
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Tuesday, March 27, 1990 Just before 1 a.m. on the 26th, Park Police units responded to a reported accident on the parkway near Lock Five. The first officer found that a Toyota Celica had gone off the westbound lane of the parkway and overturned several times. The operator, R.S. of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ejected from the vehicle and killed; both passengers were injured and transported to a nearby hospital. T.S., the deceased's brother, was treated in the shock-trauma unit and admitted to intensive care. The second passenger, J.P., was treated and released. The exact cause of the accident is unclear, but speed appears to have been a contributing factor. (CompuServe message from Cant. Dave Blackburn, RAD/NCRO, 10:00 EST, 3/26/90).
Early on the morning of the 16th, the body of an unidentified male, approximately 17 years old, was found in the parking lot of Lock #10. The cause of death has not yet been determined, and an investigation is underway. (Lt. P.L. Kramer, via telefax from Capt. Marvin Ellison, RAD/NCRO, 8/17).
A woman driving a Volvo with diplomatic tags was heading west on the parkway on May 27th when she swerved to avoid a goose that was walking on the right lane of the parkway. She lost control of the car, went over the embankment on the right side of the roadway, and collided broadside with a tree. The woman was killed. Park Police officers are investigating. Release of the victim's name has not been authorized. [USPP information release, via telefax from Marvin Ellison, RLES, RAD/NCRO, 5/29]
H.G. was killed in a two-vehicle accident which occurred on the parkway west of Chain Bridge just after midnight on June 7th. H.G.'s vehicle was struck by a car going in the opposite direction and was forced off the roadway into a grove of trees. The operator of the other vehicle was treated and released. Park Police officers are investigating. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCFDO]
On July 23rd, a 22-inch water line located adjacent to the parkway near Chain Bridge ruptured, creating a water spout over 150 feet high. the pressure was so intense that it clear cut a section of trees on the palisade, opening a new vista to the adjacent Crescent trail. The parkway was closed for four hours while FHWA engineers inspected the roadway and park personnel cleared debris. Additional closures for inspections will be required. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCSO]
On Saturday, August 17th, Park Police officers Ian Crane and John Shumaker stopped a vehicle on the parkway for a traffic violation. During the course of their investigation, the officers discovered that the vehicle was stolen. They also found and recovered property from 34 different people, including checkbooks, credit cards, and wallets (14 of which had been reported stolen in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware), and a quantity of suspected narcotics and paraphernalia. The driver, G.T., confessed to heroin addiction and the need to steal to acquire the funds to satisfy his habit. G.T. also said that he steals from Honda autos, because the door can be pried back without breaking the windows. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCSO]
A.S., 85, of Brooklyn, New York, was killed in a motor vehicle accident near Chain Bridge about a half hour after midnight on February 15th. A.S. was heading east on the parkway when his vehicle crossed the center line and hit a second vehicle head-on. The occupants of the second vehicle were uninjured. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCRO, 2/18]
B.J. of Ashburn, Virginia, was heading east on the parkway at the Little Falls pumping station on March 22nd when his vehicle left the road and struck a concrete wall. The vehicle then caught fire. A passerby attempted a rescue, but to no avail. B.J. was pronounced dead at the scene. [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCRO, 3/25]
On February 11th, T.A., 48, of Bethesda, Maryland, suffered fatal injuries in an accident on the parkway. T.A. was driving eastbound on the parkway when his Chevrolet Lumina went off the road and struck a tree. He was flown to a hospital by a Park Police helicopter, where he subsequently died of his injuries. Preliminary investigation indicates that the accident may have resulted because of aggressive driving. Park Police are currently searching for a blue Mazda Miata that may have been involved in this incident. [Henry Berberich, RLES, NCSO, 2/12]
Park Police officers investigated an alarm that sounded at the Clara Barton house around 3 a.m. on October 19th. The first officer to arrive spotted a man in the basement of the building. Arriving officers encircled the building and entered it along with a USPP canine unit. The burglar was found hiding behind a closed door and was arrested. [Sgt. R. MacLean, USPP, NCR, 10/23]
On the evening of March 3rd, Park Police officers investigated an
accident in which a pedestrian was struck on the parkway near Lock 8. A
black Honda hit a man and his two dogs as they were crossing the road,
killing all three. His name is being withheld pending notification of
next of kin.
On January 10th, K.H., 41, of Newport News, Virginia, was sentenced to 18 months probation and three years' supervised release for assaulting a woman with a deadly weapon in an incident that occurred last August 1st on the Clara Barton Parkway in Maryland. K.H. was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. K.H. was a passenger in a car that was being driven by a woman with whom he had a relationship. When she told K.H. that she was ending the relationship, they got into a heated discussion. K.H. then reached across and jerked the steering wheel, causing the car to crash into the guardrail. When the woman attempted to get out of the car, K.H. grabbed her and stabbed her in the neck with a mechanical pencil. Although she broke free, K.H. chased her and attempted to stop her from screaming for help to other motorists who came to her aid. She was admitted to a hospital for treatment but did not suffer any permanent injury. The US attorney commended US Park Police investigators for their work in the case. [Submitted by United States Attorney's Office, District of Maryland]
A man who's motorcycle broke down stopped on the side the westbound lane of the parkway at the ramp to the Cabin John Parkway on the evening of January 8th and was waiting for assistance when he was struck by a passing Chevy Suburban and seriously injured. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The driver of the Chevy stopped and cooperated with Park Police investigators. A portion of the parkway was blocked for crash reconstruction. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer]
A Honda Civic and a Ford Explorer traveling in opposite directions on the parkway near Lock 6 collided around 5:30 a.m. on January 20th, killing the driver of the Honda, 24-year-old J.Q. of Annandale, Virginia. The four people in the Ford were taken to a local hospital and treated for their injuries. The parkway was closed in both directions between the Glen Echo turnaround and Chain Bridge Road. Park Police officers are investigating. [Sgt. Robert Lachance, USPP]
A summary of recent openings, closures and other changes in the status of parks and their facilities, National Capital Parks — The NPS has completed upgrades to segments of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the Clara Barton Parkway, and Beach, Fort Davis and Fort Dupont Drives — all of them significant commuter access roads. Details on the work that's been completed can be found on the following webpage. Source: Kristi King, WTOP News. | |