A bag holding cans of beer, some opened, were found on the floor of a convertible that drove the wrong way down Interstate 270 Saturday evening and collided with a car, killing a mother and daughter, and injuring a man and an 8-year-old girl in Montgomery County, Maryland, according to charging documents.
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Maryland State Police troopers noted the absence of brake marks on the roadway where Jose Caballero Nolasco’s Ford Mustang allegedly struck a Toyota Camry head-on near the Interstate 270 Spur in Bethesda, just after 6:45 p.m.
A judge ordered that Caballero Nolasco, 32, be held without bond Monday afternoon. He’s facing charges related to the deaths of two passengers who were inside of the Toyota — Musammat Shamima Begum, 46, and her 23-year-old daughter, Areebah Jahin, of Burke and Alexandria, Virginia — as well as driving while under the influence.
An 8-year-old girl was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and the driver of the Toyota, a 62-year-old man, suffered minor injuries, according to charging documents.
Moments before the crash, a 911 caller told authorities about a Ford driving northbound in the southbound lanes of the Outer Loop of the Capital Beltway, near River Road. Two minutes later, the Ford drove the wrong way up I-270 and crashed into a car headed southbound in the left lane.
Caballero Nolasco was taken to a hospital with minor injuries related to the crash, according to charging documents. No one else was inside his vehicle.
In addition to the bag of Coronas, an emptied can of beer was also found in the back of his car, between the driver and passengers’ seats. Police said Caballero Nolasco smelled like alcohol and was slurring his words on the evening of the crash.
After the crash, a trooper asked Caballero Nolasco what happened and he stared off in the distance, without replying, according to charging documents.
There was no evidence at the scene that suggested either driver had hit the brakes on his vehicle or tried to evade the crash.
Caballero Nolasco has been charged with two counts of gross negligent manslaughter, two counts of homicide by motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol and one count of life-threatening injury by motor vehicle.
