Man Collared After Gunfire, Crash Stalls D.C. Traffic in NE

A police officer fired a shot at a suspect who fled in a stolen car, leading to a crash and a foot chase Tuesday evening in an urban drama played out before a full house of stalled commuters on one of Washington's most heavily traveled roads.

Traffic came almost to a halt on New York Avenue NE for about an hour and a half before police brought down the curtain, lifting their roadblocks and halting their detours.

It began with a collision at New York and Montana Avenues NE about 6:40 p.m. Asked to show his license, one driver jumped back into his car and stepped on the gas. A police officer, believing the man was trying to run him down, fired, police said. The fleeing car struck a pickup truck on New York Avenue and overturned. The driver ran but was collared near Fenwick Street NE.

The suspect was not hit by the gunfire, police said.

Meanwhile, police blocked the inbound lanes of New York Avenue and detoured inbound traffic onto Bladensburg Road, an action that slowed outbound traffic. It was all over by about 8 p.m.