WASHINGTON 鈥� D.C. police have arrested an 18-year-old in last week鈥檚 hit-and-run that critically injured a transgender woman.
Police said the assault could still be ruled a hate crime.
Startwaune Anderson was arrested Wednesday on a charge of aggravated assault while armed. Police allege that he used a vehicle as a weapon and struck 26-year-old Davon Washington in the 400 block of K Street early July 5.
Washington is still hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Witnesses told police that she had left a club with friends when a vehicle approached them.
鈥淭here was some dialogue with some individuals at that time,鈥� said acting Capt. Anthony Haythe during a news conference Wednesday.
Last week, a friend told 聽that some men had wanted Washington鈥檚 phone number but that she wasn鈥檛 interested and kept walking.
Shortly afterward, she was dancing near the middle of the street when a car struck her.
Police believe that Anderson was the driver of that vehicle and Capt. Haythe said “additional arrests could be coming.”
He said investigators are still looking to interview additional witnesses and D.C. police haven鈥檛 yet ruled out that the hit-and-run was a hate crime.
鈥淪ome things don鈥檛 necessarily have to be spoken,鈥� said Ruby Corado, the founder of Casa Ruby, a 24/7 community center for LGBT youth in D.C.
鈥淕iven the nature of all of the crimes committed against trans women of color, this has a lot of the patterns we have seen in the past,鈥� Corado told reporters Wednesday.
Corado said that transgender women of color tend to be the victims of particularly brutal crimes.
鈥淭alking to someone in a vehicle should not lead to your death,鈥� Corado said.
Police will provide further details of the arrest Thursday, Haythe said.
WTOP鈥檚 Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
