Victim identified, suspected driver located after DC beltway hit-and-run crash kills tree trimmer

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Authorities have located the suspected driver they say fled the scene after a tree trimmer was struck and killed by a vehicle along the shoulder of the D.C. beltway.

Police say the crash happened around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday as a mobile tree trimming operation contracted by the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration was setting up to begin work on the right shoulder of eastbound Interstate 495 near Linden Lane in Silver Spring.

Officials said a white 2021 Freightliner truck being driven by Jadien Ranard Jones, 39, of Henrico, Virginia, veered onto the shoulder, struck multiple traffic cones, and the crew’s foreman. Police said Jones did not remain at the scene.

The foreman, identified as Eric Lewis, 57, of Washington, D.C. was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators from the Maryland State Police Crash Team located the truck at a Home Depot Distribution Center in Sparrows Point, Maryland later Wednesday afternoon and made contact with Jones. Charges against him are pending the outcome of the investigation.