Victims in deadly Rock Creek Parkway crash were in rideshare

WASHINGTON — Three men killed in a crash on Wednesday were riding in a rideshare when their car was hit by another vehicle reportedly fleeing from police. 

The deadly crash happened on Rock Creek Parkway just before 1:45 a.m. 

Prior to the crash, an officer for U.S. Park Police said they tried to make a traffic stop on Rock Creek Parkway just south of Virginia Avenue in Northwest, D.C. The driver of that traffic stop sped off and the officer did not follow the car, and instead cleared the traffic stop, according to U.S. Park Police. 

A short time later, a crash was reported near P Street in Northwest. It appeared the car that was fleeing from police had crashed into another sedan.

Mohamed Kamara, 42, of Burtonsville, Maryland, Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23 of Arlington, Virginia, and Olvin Torres Velasquez, 22, also from Arlington were killed in the crash. 

The family of Kamara said he was working as a Lyft driver at the time of the incident and had just picked up the two passengers, identified as Velasquez and Mendez. 

WUSA9 reached out to Lyft and received the following statement: 

“This is an unspeakable tragedy and our hearts are with the victims' loved ones. We stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation and are working to get in touch with the victims' families to offer our support.” 

The man and woman who allegedly left an attempted traffic stop are still alive, according to police. 

The police department is asking anyone who may have been in Rock Creek Parkway at the time of the crash to contact their tip line by emailing uspp_tipline@nps.gov.