Two hit-and-run incidents within 24 hours in Chevy Chase left a 55-year-old man seriously injured and authorities seeking the driver. What the heck was going on in Chevy Chase back in 1924? Apparently hit and runs were becoming a serious problem in the area with police investigating several previous cases.
Speeder Hits Man, Flees From Scene
Victim Knocked Down by Machine Racing at 60 Miles an Hour in Chevy Chase.
An automobile, racing along at a 60-mile clip, knocked down John Hammerli, 55, of North Chevy Chase. Md., near Chevy Chase Circle, last night and sped away down Connecticut avenue, leaving him seriously injured in the street. This was the second such accident within 24 hours in the same neighborhood.
John Atkinson of Kensington, Md., who just missed being struck by the same speedster, picked up Hammerli and took him home in an automobile. There Dr. William L. Lewis of Kensington treated him for severe cuts and bruises and possible fracture of the skull.
Only Friday night a motorist speeding down Connecticut avenue at Legation street, a short distance below the circle, knocked down Leonard Stevens, 19, of 815 6th street north east, and fled. Stevens is at Emergency Hospital badly hurt, but expected to recover.
Sheriff Clay Plummer sought cooperation of local police in the attempt to identify the motorist. Detectives continued at work on the local unidentified driver cases which already confront them, including the most recent case with the five already under course of investigation.
Source: Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), November 30, 1924.
