Violent 4-car crash in Montgomery County leaves 4 injured, officials say

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A violent four-car crash in Montgomery County shut down a portion of Rockville Pike for hours on Friday.

Authorities said three people were injured and one man remains in the hospital with serious injuries following the crash near the 15000 block of Frederick Road in Rockville shortly before noon.

Investigators said a man driving a beige-colored Jeep in the southbound lane on 355 reportedly hit a curb, jumped over the median and struck a BMW and two other vehicles head-on.

Detectives spent the afternoon marking locations where the crash occurred and were trying to determine the speed of all the vehicles involved. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but authorities said they were not ruling out if distracted driving caused the wreck.

"Attention to driving. This area here, we have people sometimes think it's more of a freeway and it's not. It takes just a split second to lose control and that's all this was from what witnesses say," Darren Francke with the Montgomery County Police Department said.

Witnesses told FOX 5 employees from a gas station adjacent to the crash scene rushed out and offered aid to the victims before first responders arrived.

The driver of the BMW suffered the most severe injuries and they were mainly to his legs, FOX 5 was told. The driver of the BMW has a long road to recovery but was expected to survivor, authorities said. FOX 5 was told that based on observations, a field-sobriety test would be performed on the driver of the Jeep.

Officials said the Rockville City Police Department was assisting in the investigation and would ultimately write the crash report. No charges have been filed in connection with the crash.