Family Blames Police for DC Man's Death in Electric Scooter Crash; Protest Flares
A protest over the death of a 20-year-old D.C. man who died after he was hit by a car while riding an electric scooter has erupted outside a police station in Northwest Tuesday night.
Karon Hylton died Monday after the crash Friday in the Brightwood Park neighborhood of Northwest D.C. His loved ones accuse police of causing the crash by chasing him.
Hylton died the day his daughter turned three months old, his girlfriend and the infant's mother, Amaala Jones-Bey, said.
“It’s mind-boggling. This was so unnecessary,” she said Tuesday.
The Metropolitan Police Department says officers tried to conduct a traffic stop at about 10:10 p.m. Friday after they saw Hylton riding a Revel electric scooter on a sidewalk in the 500 block of Kennedy Street NW without a helmet. They say Hylton went through an alley and “collided” with a car in the 700 block of Kennedy Street.
Officers performed first aid on Hylton and medics took him to a hospital, where he later died.
Hylton’s family and girlfriend say police are responsible for the crash. They want more information and want to see body camera footage.
Family and community members gathered to protest outside the 4th District police station on Georgia Avenue Tuesday night.
Hylton's mother demanded to be let into the station and said she wanted to see the officer who she claimed "killed her son," News4's Jackie Bensen reports.
At one point, a man picked up a metal trash can and started smashing the 10-foot high safety glass windows at the station, Bensen reports.
Dozens of people could be seen in a standoff with a line of police officers in front of the station, and protests turned volatile.
D.C. police classified Hylton’s death as a traffic fatality. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact police. Tips may be left anonymously.
Revel CEO Frank Reig said in a statement Tuesday, "Our sympathies are with Mr. Hylton's family. As this incident is under investigation, we're awaiting more details at this time."
Shared black-and-blue Revel electric scooters, also known as mopeds, hit D.C. streets in August 2019. Riders must wear helmets and answer a 21-question safety quiz in which they have to get a perfect score, NBC New York reported. The vehicles go up to 30 mph.
Revel shut down in New York City this summer after three riders were killed in separate crashes. The company relaunched and a fourth person was recently killed after she was hit by someone riding one of the scooters.
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