13 July 2023 , 17:09
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A 75-year-old tourist is dead and two others are injured after a driver ran a red light and struck them near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon.
The man died at a local hospital, and the other two victims, including a 13-year-old girl, suffered minor injuries. They were treated on scene.
Uniformed Secret Service officers had tried to pull over the driver of a blue 2006 Honda Accord after noticing its expired tags, said Lieutenant Paul Mayhair of the US Secret Service Uniformed Division in a statement.
The driver had allegedly indicated that they would pull over, then lurched forward and ran the red light near the Ellipse around the 1700 block of Constitution Avenue at the intersection of 17th Street - close to the White House.
The area around the hit-and-run was closed for several hours on Wednesday (NBC)About a block later, the driver hit the pedestrians, Mayhair wrote. It happened at around 1:30pm local time.
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An eyewitness, Ehab Sorour, told the outlet that he saw the driver hit the walkers and watched as the man who later died was dragged onto the hood of the car. As he started to slide off, the driver backed up a little bit, then rammed into the Philadelphia resident again before speeding off.
The road was closed for several hours following the incident.
Authorities are looking for the vehicle, which bears Virginia license plate 8718BE, according to NBC Washington.
Tweeting Mayhair's message, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi wrote that the organisation's "deepest condolences go out to the victim's family."
A 13-year-old girl was one of the victims of the hit-and-run, though she made it out alright (NBC)WJLA reported that the Park Police, who are leading the investigation, went to the home at which the car is registered, but no one was home.
The vehicle has also accrued over $700 in unpaid speeding ticket fines, the Washington Post reported.
Authorities continue to investigate the matter. The victim's name has yet to be released.
People flocked to Twitter to express their shock and outrage over the incident.
"Crime in DC is out of control," wrote @BTiBeauty.
"The bigger question should be why is it necessary to instigate a dangerous chase or pursuit for a non-crime of a damn vehicle registration, there is no reason for this and you should be a shame, these are not crimes these are taxes that’s all this is obscene doing this," wrote @shockingguy.
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Authorities are continuing to search for the driver of the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run (NBC)"I mean no disrespect in my question but, Why are the Secret Service doing Traffic stops? Doesn't DC have Police for that?" asked @Armyvetgrl1.
@Redskins44EVER responded: "When your around the white house or the capitol building, secret service or capitol police can initiate traffic stops especially when you're driving thru their immediate area."
A few others echoed those sentiments, blaming the Secret Service or commenting on the high rates of crime in the city.