SUV involved in deadly Rock Creek Parkway crash has long history of outstanding tickets, fines

WASHINGTON - The Lexus SUV involved in Wednesday's deadly crash on Rock Creek Parkway has a long history of outstanding tickets and fines.

FOX 5 has confirmed that the SUV has 44 outstanding tickets worth $12,300 with the District's Department of Motor Vehicles. According to the D.C. DMV website, 43 of the tickets are for speeding violations, and one of them is for running a red light.

The crash happened around 1:40 a.m. on the Parkway near the intersection of P Street in northwest D.C.

According to U.S. Park Police, an officer initiated a traffic stop on the Lexus near the intersection of Virginia Avenue prior to the crash. Officials say a man and a woman were inside the vehicle when the officer tried to pull them over, but the driver refused to stop and fled.

Several minutes later, officials say the SUV collided with a Honda sedan. Three men inside the Honda were killed in the crash. The two adults in the Lexus suffered what were initially reported as non-life-threatening injuries, however, it was later determined that woman was in critical condition.

The three victims who died were identified as Mohamed Kamara, 42, of Burtonsville, Maryland, Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23, of Arlington, Virginia, and Olvin Torres Velasquez, 22, of Arlington.

Police have not indicated what prompted the traffic stop. U.S. Park Police officials did confirm that officers did not pursue the Lexus.

"If a vehicle flees a traffic stop, we have policies and procedures that guide our actions," said U.S. Park Police Sgt. Thomas Twiname at the scene. "Our officers are required to abide by those policies and procedures, and in this instance, the officer determined that the vehicle that fled did not meet the criteria for a pursuit and so they did not pursue the vehicle."

FOX 5's Melanie Alnwick says according to policy, the SUV should have booted or towed due to the number of fines. 

D.C. Ward Two councilmember Brooke Pinto released the following statement in response to the crash:

"When someone has repeated moving violations, we need to be able to ticket, fine, or otherwise hold them accountable. Booting alone is insufficient and tragically we have seen the consequences of insufficient enforcement with this incident. This is something I am looking into as Chair of the Judiciary Committee and I look forward to partnering with my Ward 6 colleague, Charles Allen, who is the Chair of the Transportation Committee, to ensure we are appropriately using our enforcement mechanisms to keep residents safe."

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.