WASHINGTON — Four people are in custody after police say they were involved in a hit-and-run crash and an attempted carjacking just minutes apart in D.C.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department says a silver Hyundai sedan crashed into the back of a red car driving on North Capitol Street Northeast just before 4:40 p.m. on Friday.
"She called me, and somebody hit them in the back and they just left, hit-and-run," Thomas Hailu, whose son, and the boy's mother were in the car that was struck and pushed off the roadway. Hailu says he rushed to the scene and found his child and his mother being transported into an ambulance.
"My son is six years old, he is shocked and traumatized. My son's mom got a back injury," said Hailu. Both mother and son were treated at Howard University Hospital following the crash.
"They got lucky, God protected them. They are safe, but he's my only son. Imagine if I would have lost my only son. What is going to happen to them," said Hailu who says he never imagined his family would be impacted by the rash of crime in the nation's capital.
After the hit-and-run, investigators say the four suspects inside the vehicle attempted to carjack a driver at the Washington VA Medical Center parking lot.
The crime spree ended, with the suspects wrecking the car in a nearby ditch just outside the VA Medical Center. MPD reported minor injuries at the second scene.
MPD says all four suspects were arrested, but have yet to release their ages or identity.
Sources told WUSA9 that the suspects are linked to a series of violent crimes throughout the District. MPD has yet to confirm their connection to other incidents.