Crofton Driver Survived Double-Fatal Capital Beltway Crash

An early morning crash on the Capital Beltway left two people dead, including a Davidsonville woman. The accident happened around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The crash involved six vehicles and closed the inner and outer loops of the beltway during the morning rush hour. All lanes were reopened by noon.

The two killed in the car crash were Candace Hewitt, 41, of Hardesty Estates in Davidsonville and Rodolfo Amaya, 31, of Oxon Hill.

Accident details

According to a report issued by Maryland State Police, a 2006 Ford Freestyle heading northbound on I-495 collided with a 1994 Honda Civic, driven by Amaya. The collision sent the Civic into the path of a Toyota Camry driven by Charline Starks, 50 of Waldorf.

Both the Civic and the Camry then crossed the median into the southbound (inner loop) of I-495. The Camry came to a stop in the fast lane of the inner loop. The Civic, after hitting the guardrail, went airborne and landed on the roof of a 2006 BMW 330 being driven southbound by Candace Hewitt.

Then Amaya’s Civic rolled off of the BMW and onto the roof of a Toyota RAV4, also southbound, and driven by Jose Buevera, 30, of Laurel.

Hewitt’s BMW and Buevera’s Toyota came to rest in the slow lanes of the inner loop. Hewitt and Amaya were pronounced dead at the scene.

Buevera and Starks were transported to Prince George’s Hospital for treatment of non life threatening injuries.

The driver of the Ford Freestyle that started the chain reaction was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence, the report said.

He is not being identified at this time due to pending charges. He was not injured.

The sixth car involved, a 2010 Honda Accord, was hit by debris from the crashes. The Accord was driven by Linda Pike, 56, of Crofton. Pike was not injured.

The aftermath of the crash

Due to the size of the crash scene and the severity of injuries, troopers closed the inner loop and portions of the outer loop of the beltway, with detours established for the morning rush hour.

All lanes were reopened shortly before noon.

Maryland State Police investigators continued to interview witnesses throughout Tuesday.  The report said that troopers have not definitively identified a specific cause of the initial crash, but said that alcohol involvement is a possibility.

The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office is being apprised of the investigation and will be notified for review of any charges that will be filed.