Kendall Simmons
Kendall Simmons Credit: Photo courtesy of NBC4

Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner Kendall Simmons is facing felony charges for hitting a woman’s car while riding a stolen Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle and then leaving the scene of the crash, according to court records. A video of the incident shows Simmons hopping on another motorcycle and riding away, leaving the busted bike in the middle of the street.

Simmons then returned to the scene hours later, according to one witness’ statement to police, to inquire what all the fuss was about.

The witness, who is not identified in court records, told police that Simmons claimed he wasn’t involved in a vehicle collision. But when that same witness was pulling up photos of the incident on their phone to show Simmons, they say Simmons got into a car and left.

“Minutes later I received a call from Kendall Simmons asking me to text him the photos,” the witness told police. “I sent him the photos. After he received them, I asked if the photos were him. He said ‘no.’”

A motorcycle matching the description of the stolen bike that Simmons allegedly crashed was seen on surveillance footage leaving the alley behind a house belonging to Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White on the 1100 block of Wahler Place SE, according to court records. 

An unnamed property owner at the Wahler Place address told the police that they “had seen two white motorcycles frequently and consistently visiting the aforementioned rear alley of and driveway of [the address on] Wahler Place SE,” according to court records.

Simmons’ home address is listed in court documents as the Wahler Place SE location, and the unidentified property owner told police that Simmons is “known as a resident of the home,” according to court records. White posted bail for Simmons in 2017 after he was arrested in Maryland on charges of assaulting his girlfriend. White did not respond to LL’s text message seeking comment, and Simmons did not return a voicemail to the number listed in court records.

In July, Simmons, who is the chairperson of ANC 8E, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from threats to kill the mother of his child. He initially avoided jail time with a 60-day suspended sentence, but the new hit-and-run charge may force him to serve those two months.

Simmons is also facing charges for threatening fellow ANC Christopher Hawthorne.