A pair of art-loving elderly women were identified by police in Washington, D.C. as the two victims who died when the elderly man lost control of his gray SUV, veered off the road and crashed into an outdoor dining area on Friday.
Teresa Dudnik Taffer, 73, and Jane Bloom, 76, were killed and nine others were injured when a driver, still unnamed, crashed into the patio of the Parthenon Restaurant and Chevy Chase Lounge on Connecticut Avenue north -west in a Chevy. Chase area just after noon.
Before the tragic accident, Taffer, an educator involved in the local arts community, and Bloom, who worked as an advocate for refugees and migrants in America, enjoyed a sunny afternoon on the first day the restaurant opened its outdoor dining area.
Both women lived in the Cleveland Park area of D.C. and were described by family and friends as artists and community leaders who loved people and new experiences.
On the day of the crash, Bloom was having lunch with a group of artists she met online during the pandemic, her son Joshua of Berkeley, California, told the Washington Post. Although Tuffer was also involved in the local art scene, it is not clear if the two sat at the same table.
Teresa Dudnik Taffer, 73, and Jane Bloom, 76, were identified by police as the two victims who died when an elderly man crashed his SUV into an outdoor dining area at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Nine others were injured when an unidentified driver plowed into the patio of the Parthenon Restaurant and Chevy Chase Lounge on northwest Connecticut Avenue.
Three of the nine others injured on Saturday were in critical condition, three more were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and three more were treated at a restaurant for minor injuries. Firefighters and ambulance crews were on the scene at the restaurant.
One of the women succumbed to her injuries about two hours after the crash, and another died about an hour later, DC Emergency and Fire Chief John Donnelly told .
“We are still in shock. This is a senseless tragedy. This is something no one ever expected,” Joshua Bloom said in an interview with NBC4 Washington.
He described his mother as “a lover of people and new experiences,” adding, “What happened yesterday was that she was spending time with her new friends she met on Zoom during the pandemic, when my mom started exploring new creative possibilities for herself.” We are very comforted by the fact that she died among new people, but among people who really showed what kind of person she was deep inside.
Pete Gooskos, who opened the Parthenon 33 years ago, was still shaken by the Saturday morning tragedy. He told the Washington Post that the waiter saw the SUV speeding towards the restaurant and dived to the side, narrowly missing the car.
“One minute you are here; disappear in the next minute,” Guskos told the newspaper before bursting into tears as he looked at the fresh snow on the ground. He wanted the weather to be Friday so that no one was outside, he added.
On Saturday, three of the other nine victims were in critical condition, three more were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and three more were treated at a restaurant for minor injuries, D.C. fire department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan told the Washington Post.
Shelton Zuckerman, a real estate developer and co-founder of the Sixth & I Synagogue in D.C., was one of three people seriously injured. On Saturday, he was at the George Washington University Hospital, his wife Rory Kirstein Zuckerman told the publication.
Despite debris at the scene, the restaurant was not damaged. The base of the table is visible among the wreckage.
Diners and restaurant staff are seen at the scene of a fatal crash in Washington, D.C. after the elderly driver apparently lost control of his car.
A woman sits in a chair after talking to police at the scene where a car crashed into an outdoor seating area at the Parthenon Restaurant and Chevy Chase Lounge. The elderly driver remained at the scene after the accident
Born in New York, Bloom began her career in gerontology before working in the refugee and migrant advocacy industry.
Witness Edward Levin was on the opposite side of the Parthenon dining room and recalled the driver exiting the Exxon gas station across from the restaurant before speeding across the street and onto the sidewalk.
“The whole thing took less than two seconds. It was as if he had been shot from a cannon. If he had gone straight, he would have entered the front door, but he turned right and just mowed down all the tables,” he told the Washington Post.
Both police and firefighters said the elderly man, who has not yet been identified, remained at the scene to cooperate. They consider the accident an accident.
There was some speculation that the driver may have suffered a medical injury, but police and fire officials told that he appeared unharmed.
According to an obituary posted on Legacy.com, Tuffer, also known as Terry, was a native of Philadelphia and studied French language and French literature at the University of Michigan. Upon graduation, she married and raised two children in suburban New Jersey and Manhattan, where she lived until 2019.
Tuffer was an educator who taught at Squirrel Hill High School, Pittsburgh and later at Seton Hall University. She also worked for many years as a culinary and cultural event planner at the Alliance Française in New York City.
In 2020, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she became an active member of the Adas Israel congregation and a member of ArtTable, which works to promote women’s leadership in the visual arts. She was also very passionate about Cuban art and mentored young Cuban artists.
“Terry was a loving mother and grandmother and devoted to her family,” her brother Robert Dudnick told the Washington Post. She was survived by a son in Vienna, Virginia, a daughter in Golden, Colorado, and her three siblings.
“She will always be remembered for her cheerfulness, kindness, curiosity and boundless love for her family,” her obituary reads. Taffer’s obituary also requested that loved ones send memorial contributions on her behalf to the Society for Aiding Jewish Immigrants instead of flowers.
3.11.22 2D Commander Bedlion and Chief Donnelly @dcfireems provide an update on a traffic accident that occurred in the 5500 block of Connecticut Ave, NW. https://t.co/qpepoCmlMX
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) March 11, 2022
Emergency services are working at the scene where the SUV crashed into the outdoor seating area of the Parthenon restaurant.
The Parthenon Restaurant and Chevy Chase Lounge have built a spacious outdoor seating area, as many restaurants have done during the pandemic.
Born in New York City, Bloom began her career in gerontology before moving on to advocacy for refugees and migrants. In 1997, she founded Refugee Works, the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Administration’s training and technical assistance unit for self-supporting refugees.
She received her master’s degree in international public policy when she was 60 in 2006. She then served as head of the US office of the International Catholic Migration Commission for 12 years and retired in 2018, according to an interview on her website in honor of her retirement. .
Asked in an interview what she learned from the people she worked with, she said, “I think resilience always amazes me. It’s incredible. And from some, especially if they were brought here because of religious persecution, I learned how important their family and religion are to them.”
In recent days, Bloom has been very concerned about the fate of Ukrainian refugees and, although retired, has considered intervening again, Joshua Bloom told the Washington Post. “People were still asking her for help,” he added.
In addition to working with refugees, Bloom was an avid artist, teaching college courses, and earning a certificate in world art from the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to her son, she is survived by a daughter, Rebecca Best, and three grandchildren.
“The fact that it happened while she was with new friends enjoying life was and still is a symbol of who she is and who she was. Even though she was 76, I still think she died in her prime,” Bloom told the Washington Post.
The Parthenon Restaurant, which was not damaged in the crash, describes itself as a “real Greek restaurant” in Washington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood.
Founded in 1989, it hosts special events and gala dinners.
The restaurant is located on a busy shopping street with shops and restaurants, many with outdoor seating. Fire trucks lined up along the street, closed to traffic and pedestrians.
Washington, D.C. Fire and Ambulance Chief John Donnelly speaks to media across the street from the Parthenon.
The Chevy Chase Lounge adjoins the Parthenon, both of which were unaffected by the crash.
Tim Shorrock, a writer who lives nearby, often eats at the Parthenon and said his neighbor was one of the women killed. He told : “Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed a lot of speeding on Connecticut Avenue.”
He said he almost had an accident himself earlier this year.
“About three months ago, three blocks south of where the accident happened today, I watched from the sidewalk as an SUV sped by, moving at about 80 miles per hour; the driver lost control, the car rolled over and landed on the roof,” Shorrock said. “Firefighters had to cut the driver out of the car with the jaws of life. He could easily hit me – the overturned car stopped less than 100 feet from me.
Shorrock adds that he has asked police and city officials to better monitor and monitor what he calls “constantly accelerating vehicles.”
“Dinning al fresco in the spring shouldn’t be a death trap, but today it was in Washington,” he added.
To date, at least seven people have died in traffic accidents in Washington DC in 2022, the same number as last year, with about 500 people injured.
The city had 40 road deaths in 2021, the most in Washington since 2007.
As part of the investigation, authorities are requesting video evidence from people who may have captured the accident and are asking those who can provide additional information to contact them.