Car Crash Closes Chevy Chase Hecht's

WRC-TV

CHEVY CHASE, Md. - A car crash into a wall of The Hecht Co. department store in Chevy Chase, Md., early Tuesday morning has left it closed for business. Montgomery County police said a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo was traveling at a very high rate of speed down Military Road, in northwest Washington near the Maryland line, when the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle.

Police said the car crossed into Maryland, hit the median strip on Wisconsin Avenue, jumped the curb and slammed into the side of the Hecht's department store on the corner of Wisconsin and Western avenues.

Police said the car then burst into flames.

The driver managed to get out of the car, police said, and then tried to flee the area by getting onto a southbound Metrobus on Wisconsin Avenue.

D.C. Officers who were in the area saw the accident and were able to take the driver off the Metrobus and detain him until Montgomery County police arrived. Police said the driver sustained some injuries from the accident and was taken to the hospital.

Charges are pending against the driver, police said.

Police said building inspectors came to the scene and after examining the damage to the building determined it was unsafe for occupancy. The store has since reopened.

One escalator to the Friendship Heights Metro Station will be closed due to damage caused in the collision.

Wisconsin Avenue was closed while police conducted their investigation, but it has since reopened.