Lyft driver and 2 passengers killed after SUV fleeing traffic stop crashes into their cab
WASHINGTON DC: Two friends and a Lyft driver were killed in Washington DC after being hit by an SUV fleeing a traffic stop. The deceased have been identified as two friends—Olvin Torres Velasquez and Jonathan Cabrera Mendez—and the driver, Mohamed Kamara, 42. The SUV that hit their car had previously racked up more than $12,000 in unpaid traffic tickets.
Velasquez, 23, had finished his 14-hour shift at an Arlington restaurant and planned to watch a soccer game of his home country, Honduras, that evening, according to the Washington Post. After Honduras eventually lost, Velasquez, 23, and Mendez went out for dinner, according to Valesquez's relatives. Early on Wednesday, March 15, they called a Lyft, and the driver, Kamara, came to pick them up.
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'Why haven’t the authorities done something?'
As the two were driving home to Rock Creek Parkway in Kamara's Honda, the SUV rammed their car, killing them all. A man and a woman who were in the SUV were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. No criminal charges were filed against the driver, whose identity was not released.
The SUV that caused the tragedy was cited for $12,300 in unpaid traffic violations, but was still allowed to be on the streets. Most of the violations were for speeding, according to traffic records. The insident has left Leslie Torres, Velasquez’s cousin, “outraged.” “This person owed $12,000 in tickets, for speeding. Why haven’t the authorities done something?” Torres asked.
'A lapse in the system'
Kamara’s 44-year-old brother-in-law, Mohamed Fofana, said the crash involving such a repeat offender reveals “a lapse in the system.” “I don’t want another family to go through what we are going through. This did not have to happen,” he said.
Leslie Torres said said the family is now struggling to pay to be able to send the body to Honduras. They are also waiting for more details on the ongoing investigation. “If that person had so many tickets, it meant that person was a danger on the streets and sooner or later this was going to happen,” said Leslie Torres. “Why didn’t they act? We ask ourselves, why?” A GoFundMe has been set up by Velasquez's family, and at the time of writing this article, $9,863 USD had been raised of the $10,000 goal.
DC council member Charles Allen, who chairs the council's transportation planning board, believes the district should not only lower the threshold for reckless driving, but also tow more cars. Allen said the vehicle towing team was severely understaffed last year.
