Patricia Bullinger. She lived on MacArthur Boulevard, near Q Street. Did you know her? I didn’t. Not in life. In death, she became famous, as in a name known to strangers.

More than three months have passed since her demise at the busy intersection of Foxhall Road and Q Street. But much about the circumstances and the actions of official agencies in the aftermath remains in the dark.

On June 5, 2024, a Wednesday, Bullinger was a pedestrian attempting to cross Foxhall Road at about 8:05 a.m. She was in the designated crosswalk. A vehicle, waiting at a red light on Q Street, began turning left onto Foxhall Road when the light turned green. The vehicle struck Bullinger, “causing the pedestrian to bump their head.”

Bullinger was taken to a local hospital for “treatment of life-threatening injuries” and “after all life-saving efforts failed, the victim was pronounced dead.” The vehicle “remained on the scene.” Bullinger was 77. Detectives from the police department’s Major Crash Investigations Unit investigated.

This description comes from a June 7 Metropolitan Police Department website statement, which cites a “preliminary investigation.” Police have provided no public elaboration of what occurred at the intersection, details that might better illuminate the context of the incident. For starters: What direction was Bullinger proceeding? How did this pedestrian “bump their head.” How fast was the vehicle going? Who was the driver? What conditions prevailed in the intersection?

DC Fire and EMS was dispatched at 8:05 a.m. for the report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. In an email exchange, Vito Maggiolo of DCFD’s public affairs office told me the first unit arrived at 8:07 a.m., apparently prior to MPD. Medic 5 from Dent Place in Georgetown and Engine 29 from MacArthur Boulevard responded. The patient was taken “Priority 1 (indicating serious or critical injuries) to an area trauma hospital.” Maggiolo said the federal Health Insurance Portability Act bars him from releasing details about the patient’s condition, treatment, and even the name of the trauma hospital. As a matter of comprehension and respect, would it benefit the public to know details such as what rescuers faced at the scene, what they did, the trauma hospital location?

A neighborhood resident passed by near the time of the incident. “It was soon enough that people did not know why they couldn’t get through the intersection,” the resident recalled, speaking with me at the end of August. “Cars were honking.” She said she saw three women, one wearing scrubs, who were beside Bullinger. A big truck had stopped. She recalled seeing a man, clad in plain clothes, directing traffic. “There’s a lot of bad car behavior that happens here,” she said. “People just gun through.”

An Odd Fog

On August 30, I sent an email to 2^nd District Commander Tatjana Savoy, along with the police captain for the incident location, Darren Haskis, and police public affairs. I sought a copy of the incident report; a complete description of what happened; the vehicle driver’s identity; status of the investigation and findings; and any intersection surveillance video showing what happened. I received an email from Savoy, referring me to file a Freedom of Information Act request. FOIA requesters are subject to paying a fee to obtain the information. Should a D.C. resident be at risk of having to buy such information?

NBC TV covered the incident and a vigil soon after at the intersection. The reporting indicated the vehicle involved, a black SUV, parked at a curb. NBC reported that the vehicle tag was linked to thousands of dollars in unpaid traffic citations and showed a list that included MacArthur Boulevard speeding tickets, 11-15 mph over the limit. My own check of government records in September showed more than $2,000 in tickets on the tag as being unpaid, going back to June of 2022. Those records showed no unpaid ticket linked to the Foxhall and Q incident.

A vehicle tag does not necessarily identify the vehicle’s driver at any given moment. But the traffic enforcement record associated with a plate does raise a question about whether that vehicle should be on the road. According to the D.C. motor vehicle department, two unpaid tickets suffice for an immobilizing boot. Unpaid tickets can also result in tax refund deductions and may bar obtaining a driver license and vehicle registration.

ANC 3D Video Chat Box

On Sept. 4, ANC 3D, a community commission of volunteer elected officials, held its regular monthly public meeting, via computer video links. At the outset, after an MPD officer’s routine summary of area crimes and traffic enforcement, Chair Tricia Duncan noted that some residents had contacted her, asking the status of the pedestrian fatality case. Haskis, the police captain, then joined the meeting by video link. Haskis said that he had heard earlier that day from the Major Crash unit that the office of U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew M. Graves “has declined to prosecute.”

Haskis said he did not know what drove the decision. “They are very sparse on details when they refuse to prosecute,” Haskis told commissioners, adding that it was “something along the lines of they didn’t have enough evidence to go forward.” In an aside, Haskis volunteered an addition to the officer’s traffic violations summary, saying that earlier in the day a vehicle had been caught going 59 in a 25, “plenty of speeders on MacArthur.”

Commissioners asked for clarification of the federal prosecutor’s decision. “I don’t think it’s anything more that MPD could have turned over,” Haskis said. “I think it’s just their feeling on evidence for intent, they’re saying it’s rather accidental.”

Haskis told commissioners that the vehicle has remained impounded. He said he did not know whether a citation was issued to the driver in connection with June 5.

Haskis told commissioners that, per “our normal next step”, the case has been referred to the D.C. Attorney General. “I’m guessing if OAG chose to prosecute in this case, it would be for something like reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor,” Haskis said. Haskis said the D.C. OAG handles “lower level” traffic offenses and the federal prosecutor handles “higher level” cases, such as manslaughter and negligent homicide.

Laws covering traffic violations provide a range of options for prosecution, which renders vital the review of evidence and reasoning underpinning pursuit paths, and the weighing of mitigating and aggravating factors.

For example, the law states that a driver failing to stop and give the right-of-way to a pedestrian can face fines, community service and up to 30 days in jail.

Another example: “A person shall be guilty of reckless driving” if they drive “carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard for the rights or safety of others, or without due caution and circumspection and at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger or be likely to endanger a person or property.” Penalties include a maximum $250 fine and three months imprisonment for a first offense, and can be quadrupled for a second offense. Aggravating factors include causing “bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to another.”

Regarding “negligent homicide,” the law states that “any person who, by the operation of any vehicle in a careless, reckless, or negligent manner, but not willfully or wantonly, shall cause the death of another, including a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk, or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 5 years.” Fines also can apply.

ANC 3D Commissioner J.P. Szymkowicz, whose district includes the Foxhall and Q intersection, told me he plans to push for an explanation for the U.S. Attorney’s decision. My own case inquiries by phone and email to U.S. Attorney public affairs specialist Patricia Hartman produced no information.

Walk. Don’t Walk. Run?

It’s a busy intersection where Bullinger was struck, with an elementary school at the Southwest corner, and there’s a Metro bus stop. A playground abuts the school site. Just beyond the Northeast corner sits a commercial cluster that includes a busy eatery. A torrent of traffic builds in all directions during rush hours.

In a July 10 letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Department of Transportation Acting Director Sharon Kershbaum, ANC 3D commissioners expressed their concern about safety. The letter itemized a variety of recommendations, including increasing the green light lead for pedestrian crossing to 6 seconds or more, a longer green light for Q Street, curb extensions, and speed and red-light cameras. In a letter of response, the department’s manager for corridor safety projects, Christine E. Mayeur, proposed the agency’s own array of changes along Foxhall Road, from Reservoir Road to P Street. Regarding Q Street, the transportation department letter specifically proposes the removal of parking spaces near the corners.

Traffic islands, signal changes, and other measures proposed for the stretch of road might well be relevant for improving safety. But it is unclear how they relate to whatever the specifics of the incident that claimed the life of Patricia Bullinger.

Someone attached to a utility pole at the intersection a small sign — white letters on a black background: “We ask everyone outside of the car to be safe so that drivers can be dangerous. That’s the entirety of our approach to road safety.”

Janet Mann crosses the intersection on foot multiple times a day. She remembers a close call several years ago. She had the right of way.

“A car came zooming up Q Street and turned left so quickly I literally jumped out of my shoes backward to avoid being hit,” she said. “This was the exact spot that our neighbor was killed.”