UPDATE: Victim in Accident in Downtown McLean Dies

UPDATE Saturday 11:42 am. The Fairfax County man injured in a Friday accident outside of a popular downtown coffee shop, died last night, according to official sources.

His family was notified and gathered with him at Inova Hospital. The Fairfax County police department has not identified the victim.

Fairfax County police said that around noon Friday a driver was heading south on Beverly Road when he crossed the street and struck a parked car and snapped off a power pole in front of the patio of Greenberry's, the popular downtown coffee shop.

The Fairfax County fire department said they arrived at the scene of the accident four minutes after they received the call at 12:04 pm. A fire engine with firemen who are trained as para-medics arrived at 12:08, said a spokesperson for the fire department.

The first ambulance arrived at 12:14 and a second at 12:15 pm, the spokesman said. Witnesses to the accident said the response times were longer.

The fire department always dispatches a fire engine which carries a paramedic unit to get to a victim as quickly as possible to begin treatment, the spokesman explained. Ambulances from both Annandale and Arlington arrived within a minute of each other, the spokesman said. The Arlington unit took the victim to Inova Fairfax Hospital on Gallows Road.

Customers at Greenberry's were still talking about the accident this morning and concerned about the victim's condition.

 UPDATE Friday, 10 pm. The identity and condition of a man seriously injured in an accident around noon in downtown McLean remained unanswered Friday night.

The other unanswered question raised by neighbors who witnessed the accident: why did it take fire and rescue personnel so long to respond. Witnesses at Greenberry's said he took the fire department about 8 minutes and the ambulance about 11 minutes to arrive.

Fairfax County police said the accident was under investigation. The Fairfax County Fire Department has not responded to our inquiries.

UPDATE 6:07pm. Fairfax County police confirmed that around noon Friday a driver was heading south on Beverly Road when he crossover the street and struck a parked car and sheared off a power pole.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, a police spokesman person said.

The driver's name, condition and address could not be learned from the police spokesman.

ORIGINAL STORY 5:30 pm. An unidentified man was seriously hurt when his car apparently hit a parked car and a utility pole outside of Greenberry's coffee shop in downtown McLean around noon Friday.

“I heard a huge crash . . then everyone went outside and we saw guy had crashed into a telephone pole” said Neva Russo, who works at Greenberry's on Beverly Road just west of the intersection with Old Dominion Drive.

Russo said she and several customers went outside. “I saw the car very close to the (shrubs on the Greenberry's patio).. . .the window was broken. . the red car was across the street totally smashed. The telephone pole was in half lying on the sidewalk,” she said.

A Greenberry's customer said he was standing outside talking to a friend when “We heard a crack. . . then we heard a double crack."

When he turned around to return to Greenberry's he said a small red car that was parked on the street beside Greenberry's "was on the other side of the street smashed in. And this guy in the car was in front of that pole. . . up on the curb.. .  and the guy was laying over on the seat."

Both of them said it appeared that it took about 8 minutes for the first Fairfax County fire truck to arrive. The McLean firehouse is about two blocks away from the scene of the accident. They also reported that it took about 11 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

Firemen administed CPR they said.

The owners of the small red car were standing in line for coffee at Greenberry's when the accident occurred, Russo said.

 “They were calm about it. They waited around to talk to the police. I think they were more concerned about the guy in the car,”  Russo said.

McLean Patch has inquired of the Fairfax County police department and the fire department for more details.

If you witnessed the accident please let us know by posting a comment to this story. Many thanks neighbors.