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Dozens injured when car plows into D.C. crowd
Police say woman driving nearly 70 mph sends 35 festival-goers to hospital
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:12 a.m. ET June 3, 2007
WASHINGTON - A woman plowed her car through a crowded street festival Saturday night, injuring about 35 people, including two police officers who drove their motor scooters into her path attempting to stop her, authorities said.
Police said seven of the victims, including two children under age 3, suffered major injuries.
Officers caught up with the driver, whom they identified as Tonya Bell, 30, of Oxon Hill, Md., near the site of the festival in the city?s Anacostia neighborhood. She was arrested and charged with aggravated assault while armed. The ?armed? part of the charge refers to the car. District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said additional charges are pending.
They were conducting blood tests that would show whether alcohol or drugs were involved. ?We?re still trying to piece together exactly just what happened that led up to this,? Lanier said at the scene.
She said a vehicle believed to be Bell?s was driving erratically and struck a police car and fled the scene about a half-hour before the crash at the festival, which occurred at about 8 p.m.
Alan Etter, a spokesman for the District of Columbia fire department, said authorities believe Bell was going about 70 mph when she came through the festival.
The scene cordoned off Saturday night extended for several blocks, reflecting the vehicle?s long path of destruction. Litter and debris from festival food stands were scattered in the street.
Witnesses described an extended period of mayhem in which the driver started off slowly through some closed streets and finally hit the accelerator on the avenue running through the heart of Unifest, an annual event sponsored by a church. The car hit a stage where people were dancing, witnesses said.
Ryland Anderson, 19, and Philemon Walker, 24, told The Washington Post they were about to cross the street as the festival was winding down when the car sped past. They described strollers being flung into the air and said they saw the body of a man apparently lodged in the station wagon?s wheel well.
?She was driving like ?if you?re in my way, you?re going to get hit,?? Walker said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19005509/QuoteDriver Used Crack Before Festival Crash, D.C. Police Say
Woman Laughed During Onslaught, Witnesses Say
By Robert E. Pierre, Sue Anne Pressley Montes and Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 4, 2007; Page A01
The woman charged with driving through a crowded Southeast Washington festival this weekend -- injuring dozens -- had been "smoking crack all day long," Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said yesterday, citing witnesses and the woman\'s statement to police.
The driver, whom police identified as 30-year-old Tonya Bell of Oxon Hill, is charged with aggravated assault while armed. She has felony and misdemeanor arrests dating to at least 1995 and has served time in prison for charges involving ****. Bell suffered a sprained ankle Saturday night in an episode Mayor Adrian M. Fenty described as "one of the worst serious traffic accidents" in D.C. history.
At least 40 people were hurt Saturday night after Tonya Bell, driving a station wagon, plowed through crowds gathered at the Unifest street festival, police said. Details about the incident were still emerging last night; the movements shown below reflect what D.C. police investigators gathered from eyewitness accounts.
At least 40 people, including seven children, were hurt when Bell drove her station wagon through the crowd. In the midst of the mayhem, parents pushed their children aside and tossed empty strollers in her path, hoping to block her. Police on bicycles and motorbikes didn\'t dare use their weapons with so many people at risk. Instead, they threw two motorized scooters beneath Bell\'s vehicle, bringing it to a stop.
Bell\'s expression while driving disturbed witnesses.
She appeared to be laughing, they said.
The incident brought a terrifying end to what had been a peaceful day of music and merriment in historic Anacostia. It occurred about 7:45 p.m. as Unifest, celebrating its 25th year, wound down for the day. Families walking home with plates of fried fish were suddenly scrambling for their lives.
"It was chaos. People were just lying everywhere. There were mangled strollers, kids with broken legs. I saw a woman who was hit so bad, her whole body was twisted," said Linda Greene, who lives at 14th and W streets SE, near the crash site. "One guy was stretched out in the street, and it looked like he wasn\'t moving at all. You saw people with head injuries just walking the streets, bleeding."
Investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened. How fast was Bell going? There are conflicting accounts about her speed. Where was she headed? Why didn\'t she stop? Was she high? If so, for how long? Police are seeking answers to those questions as they await toxicology tests results.
Bell, who is jailed, is to appear today in D.C. Superior Court.
D.C. Council member Marion Barry said his chief of staff is trying to determine whether Bell works as a temporary employee for Barry\'s council office. Barry (D-Ward
said someone named Tonya Bell has worked in the office for several weeks. "Whether it is the same person or not, I am trying to check it out," Barry said last night. "I\'ve asked my chief of staff to try and find out if this Miss Bell is one of several administrative aides we use from temporary agencies."
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this woman needs to fry. -
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Holy crap!
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Quote from: davepeck;147699
this woman needs to fry.
We should "rehabilitate" her to no end and let her do it again, which seems likely given her history and lack of regard for anything.
Let her fry! -
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we should make this **** stand in the middle of the street,while,smoking crack ,i drive 70 mph and run her ass over...
wait... -
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Quote from: freddiewaht;147711
we should make this **** stand in the middle of the street,while,smoking crack ,i drive 70 mph and run her ass over...
wait...
Speaking of unusual punishment, I think we should allow the UFC to put terrorists and the worst criminals in the ring with the fighters. Imagine the the millions that would tune in for that. -
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good idea.
id love to see what tito ortiz could do to this chick.. -
