Police in Arlington, Virginia, are investigating after a ride-share driver crashed his vehicle into a busy courthouse neighborhood restaurant Friday evening, injuring at least 15 people.
A car crashes into a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia on Friday, August 12, 2022.
WTOP/David Tildin
Fire crews and police investigate a fire after a car crashed into a building on Friday, August 12, 2022.
WTOP/David Tildin
At least four people were seriously injured after a car crashed into a building in Arlington, Virginia on Friday evening.
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Police told WTOP the crash happened at the Four Courts of Ireland restaurant at North Courthouse Road and Wilson Boulevard just before 7 p.m.
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Police in Arlington, Virginia, are investigating after a ride-share driver crashed his vehicle into a busy courthouse neighborhood restaurant Friday evening, injuring at least 15 people.
Around 6:45 p.m. Friday, Arlington County police were dispatched to the Four Courts area of Ireland in the 2000 block of Wilson Boulevard for a report of a vehicle crashing into a restaurant, the department said in a news release.
Police who arrived at the scene said they helped patrons evacuate the building and began providing medical care minutes before the vehicle caught fire inside the restaurant. The Arlington County Fire Department immediately extinguished the fire.
“Without a doubt, the decisive actions of the arriving officers who ran directly into the building and removed the patrons saved lives,” Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said in a statement.
After Friday evening, the building that houses the restaurant, despite the damage, was determined by engineers to be structurally sound and not currently habitable.
A A GoFundMe page has been started on behalf of the restaurant Raised over $30,000 in less than 24 hours.
A preliminary investigation into the crash said, “The driver of the vehicle, who was acting as a ride-share driver and had a passenger at the time of the incident, was northbound on N. Courthouse Road when he left the roadway and crashed. Restaurant,” the release said.
Both the driver and passenger of the ride-share suffered life-threatening injuries and were taken to hospital.
According to police, a total of nine patients have been hospitalized. Of them, two are in critical condition, one is in serious but stable condition and six were treated for life-threatening injuries.
Six people were treated at the scene but released, according to Arlington Fire and EMS Friday night’s update.
.@ARLnowDOTcom Keep all those injured in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks .@ArlingtonVaPD and .@ArlingtonVaFD For their quick response. We are doomed.
— Ireland Four Courts (@irelands4courts) August 12, 2022
Mary Reilly, a server working inside the restaurant, told WTOP’s Kyle Cooper that the crash felt “like an explosion.”
Doug Samuelson of Annandale, who was in the area at the time of the crash, told WTOP’s Dave Tildin that it looked like “the truck hit a building.”
Samuelson said the flames were burning 12 to 15 feet high and there was a strong odor.
Police do not yet know what caused the car to crash.
Arlington Fire and EMS said structural engineers evaluated the building and found it to be “structurally sound, but not re-occupable.”
A major fire is currently at four courts in Ireland @WTOP @ArlingtonVaFD. Windows were broken and people were lying on the ground outside. pic.twitter.com/zMVTbs968u
— Sara (@sarcchang) August 12, 2022
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