Bars and businesses in the Adams Morgan neighborhood are joining together to try to offer any help possible to the two officers and DDOT worker who were mowed down by a truck driver.
Two D.C. police officers on bicycles and a D.C. Department of Transportation employee were hurt after a man in a pickup truck plowed into them and then hit a dump truck Thursday night in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
Two Virginia men were arrested after the horrifying crash, which police said is not connected to terrorism.
Brandon Figures-Mormon, 22, of Disputanta, Virginia, and Dwayne Nicholas Taylor, 23, of Prince George, Virginia, were arrested.
Figures-Mormon has been charged with assault with intent to kill and possession of an unregistered firearm.
Taylor initially was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm. The D.C. Office of the Attorney General decided after reviewing evidence not to charge him, a representative for the office said Friday afternoon.
The officers were riding their bikes near 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, when the white pickup truck crashed into them.
Witnesses told News4 the pickup truck swerved around a WMATA bus and struck the officers.
"We heard an absolute horrifying screech," said Katie Vincentz, a witness.
Vincentz was inside Tryst Lounge when it happened. She and others quickly ran out onto 18th Street.
"What we saw was just horrifying. There was a police officer who had been thrown pretty much 30 feet," she said.
"The officers ... were yelling at the truck 'Stop!' and the truck wasn't slowing down. The truck was probably going about 50 mph and just hit them," Michael Matuson said, a Navy veteran with first aid training.
"I checked his pulse to make sure he was still breathing. He was on his side," he said.
The officers and DDOT worker were rushed to Medstar Washington Hospital Center. The officers' bikes laid mangled on the pavement.
One officer was in critical but stable condition. The second officer is expected to be released Friday, D.C. police Chief Peter Newsham said in an update. The DDOT employee was treated and released.
The truck driver also was injured and taken to a hospital.
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Police found an assault-style weapon inside the vehicle.
While the suspect's motive is not clear, Newsham said there is no "information to suggest this was a terrorist related event."
There were major road closures in the area of the crash.
On Friday, businesses in the Adams Morgan showed their support for those injured.
"We immediately heard from business owners throghout the neighborhood that were really concerned for the officers because they're part of their family. And the Adams Morgan business community is really a big family," said Kristen Barden, with the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District.
In the aftermath of the crash, staff at the nearby bar Madam's Organ offered water to first responders and urged patrons who witnessed the crash to wait patiently so investigators could take their statements.
"We're all a big family out here. We know all the guys, all the officers and nightlife crew, the midday crew, the DDOT parking enforcement and public works," Madam's Organ staff member Darian Gray said.
Anyone with information should call (202) 727-9099.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correctly state that, according to police, a DDOT worker was the third person injured.
