ANNANDALE, Virginia — A 28-year-old Burke man was killed early on Saturday, November 14, when his car left Little River Turnpike near the Interstate 495 overpass in Annandale and struck a guardrail, the Fairfax County Police Department said. Detectives from the department's Crash Reconstruction Unit are investigating, and police say speed and alcohol are preliminarily believed to have been factors.
Source: Fairfax County Police Department
Officers from the West Springfield Police District responded at approximately 2:16 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, to Little River Turnpike near the I-495 overpass for a crash involving a Subaru Impreza, police said. It was a single-vehicle crash in the overnight hours on one of Fairfax County's main east-west roads.
What detectives say happened on Little River Turnpike
Preliminarily, detectives determined that the driver, Christian Bejarano, 28, of Burke, was travelling eastbound on Little River Turnpike when his vehicle left the roadway and struck a guardrail, the department said. Bejarano was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. No other vehicle was reported involved, and police have not described any other person being injured in the crash.
Speed and alcohol: a preliminary finding, not a final one
Police were careful with their wording: preliminarily, speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash. That is an early assessment from the first hours of the investigation, not a final determination. Detectives from the Crash Reconstruction Unit are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash, the department said, and the unit's reconstruction — vehicle evidence, roadway evidence and the full record of that night — is what will settle how the Impreza came to leave the road.
Known: one vehicle, a Subaru Impreza, eastbound on Little River Turnpike near the I-495 overpass at about 2:16 a.m. on November 14; it left the roadway and struck a guardrail; the driver, Christian Bejarano, 28, of Burke, died at a local hospital. Police say speed and alcohol are preliminarily believed to be factors. Not yet known: the final cause, which the Crash Reconstruction Unit's completed investigation will determine.
The road where it happened
Little River Turnpike — Route 236 — is the main east-west arterial through Annandale, carrying commuters between Fairfax City, Annandale and the Capital Beltway, I-495, whose overpass stands at the crash scene. At 2:16 a.m. the road carries a fraction of its daytime traffic, which is precisely why overnight single-vehicle crashes on such arterials draw a reconstruction team: with few witnesses on the road, the physical evidence has to tell the story.
Annandale, in Fairfax County just outside Washington, D.C., is one of the most diverse communities in Northern Virginia, and Burke, where Bejarano lived, is a residential community a short drive southwest of the crash scene. For both communities, the loss is of a 28-year-old who set out on a familiar road in the early hours of a Saturday and did not come home.
Police are asking witnesses to come forward
Detectives would like to speak to anyone who may have information about this case, the department said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Crash Reconstruction Unit at 703-280-0543. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers of Fairfax County at www.crimesolversfairfax.org. A driver who passed the scene, a nearby resident who heard the crash, or anyone who saw the Impreza earlier that night could hold a piece of the timeline detectives are building.
What happens next
The Crash Reconstruction Unit's investigation continues. Its completed work will produce the department's final account of the crash, including whether the preliminary view on speed and alcohol stands. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if Fairfax County police release those findings. No charges or further announcements have been made in the case, and none are expected to be reported before the investigation is complete.