An SUV stolen from a movie set crashed and caught fire while attempting to flee police in downtown Washington on May 31. (Video: @michelle_sagan/Angela Chiappetta)
THE DISTRICT

SUV taken from movie set, triggers real chase

An SUV that crashed and caught fire while the driver fled police in downtown Washington on Thursday had been stolen from a movie shoot near the U.S. Capitol, according to authorities.

The morning rush-hour pursuit by U.S. Park Police and crash near Metro Center and the Grand Hyatt Hotel caused delays for motorists.

Sgt. James Dingeldein, a Park Police spokesman, said the incident began shortly before 9:30 a.m. when a person affiliated with a movie shoot told an officer that a GMC Yukon had just been stolen from Third Street and Jefferson Drive SW, near the U.S. Capitol.

A police report says the owner had been loading items into the back when a man jumped in the driver’s seat and drove off. Police pursued, including in the Third Street Tunnel, before supervisors called off the chase at 14th and I streets NW, where an officer saw that the Yukon had hit another vehicle and was on fire.

Dustin W. Smith, 36, of Fredericksburg, Va., was charged with auto theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle and assault.

— Peter Hermann

Three men shot near strip mall in Southeast

Three men standing outside a strip shopping center were shot Thursday in the latest violence in Southeast Washington, according to D.C. police.

Two suffered wounds not believed to be life-threatening; police said the third man was more seriously wounded and was being evaluated at a hospital.

The shooting occurred shortly after noon in the 3200 block of 22nd Street SE. Police said a gunman in a tan sedan opened fire with a handgun.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham described the attack as “a pretty brazen shooting.”

The incident came two days after the chief, mayor and other D.C. leaders met and called the rising number of homicides unacceptable. There have been 63 homicides this year in the District, up 47 percent from the 43 at this time in 2017. Thirty killings have occurred this year in Ward 8.

— Peter Hermann

MARYLAND

Lanham motorcyclist dies in collision

Isaiah Brown-Wilson, 20, of Lanham, was killed Tuesday in Prince George’s County in a traffic collision, county police said.

An initial investigation found that Brown-Wilson’s motorcycle and an SUV collided about 6:40 p.m. at Route 450 and Baltimore Lane in the Lanham-Seabrook area, police said.

The motorcycle driver was later identified by police as Brown-Wilson.

— Martin Weil

VIRGINIA

Child dies in fall

from window

A 3-year-old boy died Wednesday after he fell from the bedroom window of a Falls Church apartment, Fairfax County police said.

Police officials said they believe the boy accidentally fell through an open window with a screen at 5601 Seminary Road about 6 p.m. Investigators said the child was with family members when the fall occurred. Police did not identify the boy.

— Clarence Williams

THE REGION

Hearing Monday

on ballot issue

An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge on Thursday refused to ban Maryland Democratic primary ballots that don’t list Valerie Ervin as a gubernatorial candidate.

Judge Laura Sue Kiessling scheduled a hearing Monday on whether the state must change ballots to reflect that Ervin has replaced her former running mate, the late Baltimore County executive Kevin Kamenetz, at the top of the ticket. Kamenetz died unexpectedly May 10.

The state elections board says it is too late to reprint ballots. Elections officials say they will notify voters through signs and election judges that a vote for Kamenetz would count as a vote for Ervin and for Marisol Johnson as lieutenant governor. The Ervin campaign wants the state to reprint ballots or affix stickers with the correct names.

— Arelis R. Hernández