Saturday morning car crash shakes up neighborhood

A Saturday morning crash at one of Richmond's notorious intersections was the result of a speeding driver fleeing in a stolen vehicle, according to witnesses.

Neighbors say the crash occurred when the two cars collided at the intersection of 26th Street and Gaynor Avenue in the city's North and East neighborhood, leaving both cars damaged and one of the vehicle's occupants shaken, but not seriously injured.

Security camera video shows the crash and two smashed cars left along the side of the road, as one of the car's occupants runs away from the scene.

Barbara Gorin, who lives nearby, said the car appeared to have been stolen because it had been hot-wired prior to the crash.

"The blue car was stolen, and after the crash, it was still running," Gorin said. "They couldn’t turn it off because it was hotwired."

Gorin also said she had to call for help multiple times before first responders arrived at the scene. "I had to call three times," Gorin said. "It took an hour and a half for the police, and two hours for the fire department to show up."

Resident Janis Mara told Grandview that there have been many crashes at this intersection for years, most recently in December, when a driver ran a stop sign and hit a school bus.

"We’ve asked the city repeatedly for traffic calming measures to no avail. We’re hoping Claudia Jimenez will help us, especially since she’s running for mayor. It would be a demonstration of her commitment to all Richmond residents," Mara said.

Dylan Ortiz, whose camera caught the crash, shares the neighborhood sentiment that the city needs to do more to mitigate the number of car crashes on their block.

"This is the last straw; the city has to take better care of the neighborhood," Ortiz said.

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