WASHINGTON — Court documents are giving more insight into a hit-and-run crash that left a 75-year-old man dead, and the search and arrest of the man who police say killed him while fleeing from the United States Secret Service.
The crash happened outside the White House just before 1:30 p.m. on July 12. Bing Wong, a 75-year-old tourist visiting from Philadelphia, was hit. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital where he later died. A 13-year-old girl was also injured in the crash. She was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Police later arrested 33-year-old Benjamin Robertson. He has been charged with second-degree murder and made his first court appearance on Friday. His attorney argued that Robertson should be released or be put under house arrest, saying the crime was unintentional.
The judge refuted that argument, saying the hit may have been unintentional but the decision to keep driving afterward was not.
"There was a number of things he could have done, but did not do," the judge said.
An affidavit in support of an arrest warrant filed within the DC court system details what officers say happened in the moments before, during, and after the deadly crash.
A Failed Traffic Stop
According to the court documents, a United States Secret Service officer, in a marked police cruiser, attempted to pull over a car on 17th Street, NW. The officer later told detectives they attempted to pull the car over after seeing the driver smoking something that smelled like marijuana and noticing expired tags and an electronic plate cover.
The driver sped away, crossing the double-yellow lines to go around traffic stopped at a red light.
The suspected vehicle, a blue Honda Accord, then reportedly drove through the red light, through cross traffic and swerved to avoid a crash. The Honda was then hit by another car before hitting two people who were walking in the crosswalk across the street.
The court documents include several pictures from surveillance cameras in the area that appear to show the moment the Honda hit the teen and Wong.
Wong landed on the Honda's hood before being thrown into the street. Once the 75-year-old man hit the pavement, the car reportedly crossed the double-yellow line, driving in the wrong direction on 17th Street. The police cruiser that was chasing him stopped to help Wong, who died of his injuries at a hospital a short time later.
'Dragged by the car at full speed like in the movies' | Witness Accounts
The 13-year-old girl who was also injured in the hit-and-run crash was walking with her family when her grandfather was hit by a car.
"Victim 2 stated [Wong] was hit and dragged by the car at full speed like in the movies," the criminal complaint reads.
After the crash, the girl told police she saw her grandfather's hat fall off and heard her mother screaming, asking if she was okay before noticing her grandfather was lying on the ground unconscious.
Multiple witnesses reported to police that they heard the crash and screaming that followed.
One witness told police they were with their wife near the Washington Monument when the crash happened. "Oh my god, he isn't stopping," the witness reportedly told their spouse, according to court documents. That couple told police they watched as the car swerved to throw Wong off the hood.
Finding the car
Officers say License Plate Reader data showed the car drove east through Pennsylvania Avenue and 27th Street, SE after the crash.
An Insurance Services Office Claim Search listed the driver as 34-year-old Benjamin Larry Robertson. There were several addresses listed for Robertson, but police ultimately found the car with damage on the front bumper and windshield in a parking lot on Benning Road, SE.
Several time stamp videos captured the car parked in the parking lot the morning of the crash. The car is seen driving away that afternoon before returning around 20 minutes after the crash, with damage to the windshield and bumper.
A US Park Police detective says he saw a man nearby who matched Robertson's description. When she tried to stop him, he ran away.
Investigators learned Robertson's mother lived in the nearby apartment building but he was not in her apartment.
Who was driving the car?
The car was seized as evidence. While waiting for the tow truck, Robertson's mother asked to speak with detectives. She said the car is registered to another person who lived out of state and had not driven the car in over a year. When investigators asked her if it is possible a friend could have been driving the car, she said no.
"Witness 13 insisted that Robertson is the only person who drives [the car,]" the affidavit reads.
Police spoke with the car's registered owner, who lives out of state, on the phone. They told investigators that they were on the way to D.C. to pick up family and heard from a friend that Robertson had been seen driving their car around Georgetown. The registered owner agreed to come speak with detectives.
On July 13, the registered owner arrived at the Anacostia Operations Facility and spoke with investigators. They identified Robertson, by the nickname "Sco," when shown screenshots of the person who got out of the car after it was parked on Benning Road.
The registered owner said they had known Robertson for eight years and previously dated him.
When they were shown a picture of the car, the registered owner called it "Sco's car," and reiterated what Robertson's mother said: nobody else drives that car.
"'Sco' would not let anybody else drive his car," the court documents say.
The registered owner also told investigators they had received two phone calls before being contacted by police. One person called to tell them that Robertson had murdered one of the registered owner's family members, which was not true. The second call was from a friend who asked what "Sco" was doing with the car because it looked bad.
"He was driving crazy..." the affidavit reads. "It looked like he was running from a crime scene."
'I ain't mean for none of this to happen man' | Interviewing Benjamin Robertson
Robertson was arrested on Thursday, 15 days after Wong was killed. In a summary of an interview with investigators, Robertson requested to see what evidence was being used against him.
When shown a photo of the Honda, Robertson reportedly asked, "why the bumper down like that?"
He confirmed to police that the car belongs to the registered owner and that he drives it sometimes before demanding to see more photos. When investigators asked who else drives the car, Robertson said he wasn't sure, but knew there was more than one set of keys. When asked if he lets anyone else drive the car, he reportedly replied saying it wasn't his car.
Robertson did confirm that he drove the Honda on July 12, but not downtown, and the window and bumper were not damaged. He added that a lot of people keep trying to get the car because of how popular it is. When officers said they were going to show him a video of the car driving downtown, he replied, "I don't want to see that."
After agreeing to watch the video, Robertson asked detectives if they had photos of him inside the car. When they said no, he said he didn't know why a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Robertson dropped the argument after police asked how someone could have stolen his car and then given it back to him between the time of the crash and when he was captured getting out of the damaged car on video.
Robertson then reportedly told police someone tried to take the car earlier that day, injuring him. He explained that while leaving a LabCorp in Northwest for a urine test, someone attempted to carjack him.
"Robertson said he should have just let him do what he did to him so that somebody else would not have gotten hurt," the interview summary reads.
He explained that he was leaving LabCorp and texting a friend when the carjacker got into the car and told him to go, so he did.
"Robertson stated that the guy was in his vehicle this whole time (in the passenger seat) and finally got out somewhere around Potomac Avenue," the interview summary said.
He said he didn't know the person and was scared. He said he has been trying to turn his life around and that he is from the streets. He urged investigators to fingerprint the car. When he asked again why police were coming for him, the investigation was explained to him and he stated he was not trying to get locked up for someone else's wrongdoing.
Investigators asked Robertson why he didn't report the carjacking, and he said, "How could I report anything? It's not in my name." He started crying, saying the carjacker was in the car before saying "I ain't meant for non of this to happen man."
Robertson then explained that he was just trying to get away from the carjacker and that he was not trying to hurt anyone. He said he was afraid of being shot and when police tried to stop him, the carjacker told him to keep going. He said he did not see Wong when he was hit because he was tussling with the carjacker, adding that he would have stopped if he knew he hit someone.
After the crash, Robertson said he told his mother half of the story and she told him to turn himself in.
When investigators asked if Robertson had anything to say to Wong's family, he said "I'm sorry," and later added, "I do know that it wasn't on purpose."
