At approximately 12:23 am, on Tuesday, February 21, 2006, Metropolitan olice were called to the intersection at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, for the report of a traffic crash. Upon arrival officers located 23-year-old Kenneth R. Rudolph, of the 4900 block of Midlothian Drive, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, seated in the driver's seat of a 1999 Saab; he was apparently not wearing a seat belt. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel were called to the scene but could find 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 the victim was apparently driving eastbound against traffic on a one-way street in the 1200 block of G Street, SE. As the vehicle approached the intersection of 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, it mounted the north curb and crossed the grassy median before hitting several trees. It appears that high speed may have been a factor in this crash.
This case is under investigation by members of the MPDC's Major Crash Investigations Unit.