One Killed, Five Injured After SUV Driver Smashes Into Wall on Capital Beltway

A man slammed his sport-utility vehicle into a wall on the Capital Beltway early yesterday, killing a teenage passenger and injuring himself and four others, police said.

The man, whom police did not identify because he has not been charged, was driving on the inner loop near Route 1 in Prince George's County when he lost control of his vehicle and struck the center median, police said. The impact flipped the SUV onto its roof and ejected two of the six people inside. One passenger, a 19-year-old Alexandria woman, was killed; the other five were hospitalized with serious injuries, police said. Three women and two men were injured.

Sgt. Arthur Betts, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, said troopers were conferring with the Prince George's state's attorney's office to explore possible charges. He declined to release the names of those involved because authorities had yet to contact their relatives. He said all had Virginia addresses.

Police said alcohol might have been involved in the crash; Betts declined to give further details.

The crash, which occurred just before 3 a.m., led authorities to shut down all lanes of the inner loop for about four hours, resulting in backups as rush hour approached. Police also closed Interstate 95 south where it merges with the Beltway, authorities said.

The crash marked the beginning of what turned into a day of wrecks for police and fire officials in Prince George's. About 12:30 p.m., a truck crashed into a gas station building at 6705 Martin Luther King Jr. Hwy. near Landover, authorities said. No injuries were reported, but the building had "substantial" damage, authorities said. About an hour later, seven people, including four children ages 4 to 13, were hospitalized for minor injuries after the SUV in which they were riding veered off Landover Road, jumped a guardrail and rolled down a 30-foot embankment, authorities said.

Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.