"Deranged": Woman Injures 35 in Street Fest Crash

An Oxon Hill woman driving a grey
Volvo station wagon careened into Unifest in Southeast DC this evening
injuring more than 30 people, at least 7 critically. Unifest, held in
Anacostia along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is a huge street faire,
with many streets That didn't stop the Volvo from wreaking havoc as it
slammed into people, causing significant tumult and injury.

Apparently, the woman driving the car was being pursued through
Southeast DC at the time, and she was apprehended shortly thereafter.
This marks the second major police-chase-turned-to-injury in the DC
area in a week, after a multiple fatality crash on the Beltway earlier
this week.

A woman plowed her car through a crowded street festival Saturday night, injuring about 35 people, including two police officers who drove their motor scooters into her path attempting to stop her, authorities said.

Police said seven of the victims, including two children under 3, suffered major injuries.

Officers caught up with the driver, whom they identified as Tonya Bell, 30, of Oxon Hill, Md., about a block from the festival. She was arrested and charged with aggravated assault while armed. District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said additional charges are pending.

Police said Bell had a 7-year-old child in the car with her.

They were conducting blood tests that would show whether alcohol or drugs were involved.

"We're still trying to piece together exactly just what happened that led up to this," Lanier said at the scene.

She said a vehicle believed to be Bell's was driving erratically and struck a police car and fled the scene about a half-hour before the crash at the festival, which occurred about 8 p.m.

Alan Etter, a spokesman for the District of Columbia fire department, said authorities believe Bell was going about 70 mph when she came through the festival.