On Tuesday, January 30, 2001, at approximately 2:20 p.m., a Chevy Corsica travelling eastbound on in the 5300 block of East Capitol Street, SE struck the south curb. The vehicle then mounted the curb and traveled sixty feet and collided with a tree.

The driver was extricated from the vehicle by Emergency Medical Services personnel and flown to the Washington Hospital Center's MedSTAR Unit , where he was pronounced dead at 3:10 p.m. He has been identified as 63-year-old Henry Saunders, of Capital Heights, Maryland.

The accident is currently under investigation by members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Major Crash Investigations Unit.