A crash in a Silver Spring intersection may be related to a deadly crash that happened less than a mile away, Montgomery County police said Friday.
The first crash happened just before 7 a.m. Friday in the 200 block of Randolph Road. Police say the driver was traveling eastbound when the car left the road, hit a tree and flipped onto its roof.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police later identified the driver as 72-year-old Victoria Millicent Hitchens of Rockville, Maryland.
The damage the violent crash left behind left witnesses stunned.
"It's unrecognizable. It looks like it was in car compactor. It's just amazing what the car looks like," said a woman who lives near the scene.
Investigators said judging by the wreckage, the car was likely speeding.
One minute later, an SUV crashed into a utility pole on Randolph Road at New Hampshire Avenue. The two scenes were less than a mile apart.
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The driver of the SUV remained at the scene, but witnesses said up to three passengers jumped out of the vehicle and ran away. One man was arrested a short time later. Police are still looking for the other passengers.
Investigators say they found drugs in the SUV, so charges could be filed against some or all of the people inside the vehicle.
Officers are looking into whether the two crashes are related.
