News Releases

Nineteen-Year-Old Killed in Damascus Three-Vehicle Collision

For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 5, 2026

Gaithersburg, MD — The Montgomery County Department of Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating a fatal three-vehicle collision in Damascus.

On Monday, March 2, 2026, at approximately 10:29 p.m., 5th District officers and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded to Ridge Road, north of Sweepstakes Road, for the report of a collision involving multiple vehicles.

When first responders arrived, they located the driver of a white 2022 Toyota Camry in the roadway after he had been ejected from the vehicle. The driver, identified as 19-year-old River Jordan Washington of Monrovia, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The collision also involved a black 2022 Lexus NX350 and a white 2019 Ford Fusion.

The driver of the Lexus, an adult female, was trapped inside the vehicle. Fire Rescue personnel removed her from the car and transported her to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Ford Fusion was not injured.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the Toyota Camry was traveling northbound on Ridge Road when it crossed the centerline and struck the southbound Lexus. During the collision, Washington was ejected from the vehicle and was then struck by the Ford Fusion, which had been traveling behind the Lexus.

Several witnesses reported to investigators that the Toyota was traveling at a high rate of speed and driving erratically before the collision.

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to call the Collision Reconstruction Unit at 240-773-6620.

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Release ID: 26-104
Media Contact: S.D. Goff 
Categories: fatal-collision