The pedestrian was in the roadway outside of a crosswalk when he was struck by a 2012 Dodge Challenger, police said.

Tony Webster / Flickr

A man who was struck by a hit-and-run driver on North Capitol Street NW on Tuesday night has died of his injuries, D.C. police say.

Jascha Wilson, a 29-year-old from Southeast, was hit by a vehicle at around 9:50 p.m. in the 2600 block of North Capitol Street, near the Children’s National hospital. He was transported by D.C. Fire and EMS to a local hospital in critical condition. Wilson succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to police, Wilson was in the roadway outside of a crosswalk when he was struck by the driver of a 2012 Dodge Challenger, who didn’t stop after the crash. 

The incident is currently under investigation by the Major Crash Investigations Unit.  A spokesperson for MPD did not answer a DCist inquiry on how it was determined that Wilson was not in the crosswalk at the moment of impact, and D.C police does not release crash reports unless they are obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Wilson’s death is the 16th traffic fatality in the District this year, which represents a 23.8 percent decrease compared to the same date last year, according to MPD statistics.

While there has been an overall decline in traffic deaths over the last two decades, the city has seen an increase over the past five years that has galvanized pedestrian and bike activists.

Across the country, a 2018 report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that fatal hit-and runs reached a record high in 2016, wich more than 2,000 deaths nationwide. An average of 682,000 hit-and-runs have occurred every year since 2006, according to the report.

Last September, a Smithsonian employee was killed by a hit-and-run driver who ran a red light at the intersection of 12th and Constitution Avenue. A month earlier, a woman died of her injuries after she and another pedestrian were struck by a hit-and-run driver in a crosswalk area in Northeast D.C.’s Kenilworth neighborhood.

Previously:
Fed Up With Traffic Deaths, Advocates Lie Down On Pennsylvania Avenue
2018 Saw A Significant Rise In Traffic Fatalities In D.C. And Fairfax

Filed Under: ddot, fatal crash, hit and run, pedestrian death,