Beltway Collision Leaves One Dead

Tow Truck Driver Held After Crash

A driver for the Metro system's service for the disabled was killed late Tuesday night when his sedan slammed into a tow truck that was making an illegal U-turn on the Capital Beltway.

The driver of the tow truck then left the scene, police said. An Upper Marlboro man believed to be the driver was in custody and being questioned yesterday, police said.

Maryland State Police identified the dead man as Silver Spring resident Emmanuel Toshe, 50. He was a driver for Challenger Transportation, a subcontractor to MV Transportation, which provides the MetroAccess service for the disabled, a spokeswoman for Metro said.

Toshe, who had dropped off his last passenger at 10:43 p.m., was headed back to a garage in Gaithersburg when the accident took place. He was singled out for praise yesterday by a customer after Toshe returned her wallet, which she had inadvertently left in the car earlier on Tuesday, according to Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith.

The passenger, a receptionist at Crestline Hotels and Resort in McLean, did not know the driver's name, but had sent an e-mail describing the incident and asking that he be commended for his honesty, officials said.

Toshe was driving in the left lane of the Beltway's inner loop about 11:20 p.m. when his MetroAccess vehicle, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, hit the rear of the tow truck.

The driver of the tow truck was idling in the left lane, waiting to make an illegal turn into the outer loop of the Beltway just south of Route 50, Maryland State Trooper Gary Matthias said. The tow truck was using a cut-through restricted to authorized vehicles -- off-limits to the tow truck -- Matthias said. After the crash, the tow truck left the scene, police said.

Officers in a Prince George's County police cruiser saw the truck -- emblazoned with the words Henry's Wrecker Service -- making the illegal turn, Matthias said. Police found the damaged truck at a tow lot in nearby Capitol Heights and took the driver into custody.

He was identified as Anthony Rice, 28, of Upper Marlboro.

The circumstances of the crash are under investigation.

Henry's Wrecker Service has held a contract with the Prince George's County Police Department to haul abandoned or illegally parked vehicles for several years. Ralph L. Arnsdorf, an attorney for Henry's Wrecker Service, said the company will "cooperate fully" with state investigators but declined to comment further.

Staff writer Candace Rondeaux contributed to this report.