A man accused of running down a transgender woman with his car in Northeast D.C. last week, leaving her in critical condition, has been arrested.
Startwaune Anderson, 18, was arrested Wednesday.
Police said Anderson used his car like a weapon when he struck 26-year-old Davon Washington.
Amia Bagley, Washington's friend, said a group of friends was walking along K Street NE about 2 a.m. July 5, after leaving a club, when two men in a dark hatchback approached them.
Bagley said the men wanted Washington's phone number, but she wasn’t interested, so the group continued walking.
Washington was dancing near the middle of the street, near 4th Street, when the driver ran over her, Bagley said.
“When she was hit, it happened so fast that none of us had time to think, but call 911,” Bagley said. “It was just, 'Don't move her body because she went all the way in the air… We were panicking because she wasn't moving. She wasn't conscious at the time.”
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Washington's friends believe she was targeted because she is transgender.
"You have homophobic people out here," one friend said. "You have people who don't like transgender people."
Police said in a news conference Wednesday that Anderson's motivation for striking Washington is not known.
The LGBT unit of the police department is assisting in the investigation.
Washington remains in critical condition.
