At approximately 8 am, on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, Metropolitan Police were called to 3rd and D Streets, NW, for the report of a man struck by a vehicle. Upon arrival, they located 27-year-old Simmie Bellamy, of the 100 block of Joliet Street, SW. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel were called to the scene but found no signs consistent with life. He was taken to the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and pronounced dead.

At this time, it appears that Mr. Bellamy grabbed the undercarriage of a DC Department of Corrections bus as it left the DC Superior Courthouse, located at 500 Indiana Avenue, NW.  The bus proceeded north on Third Street, NW, and turned east on the ramp to the entrance to the 3rd Street Tunnel. It appears that Mr. Bellamy released or lost his grip and was struck by a 1993 Ford E-350 van that was part of the traffic behind the bus.

The case is under investigation by members of the MPDC's Major Crash Investigations Unit.