Background: Law enforcement officers investigate after a vehicle crash on the William Howard Taft Bridge in Washington (WTTG/YouTube). Inset left: Donald Trump, president of the United States, attends a press conference at the NATO Summit at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 8, 2026 (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via AP). Inset right: Nolberto Armando Sanabria Meza (GoFundMe).
A delivery driver was riding on his moped in Washington, D.C., when he suddenly got caught up in a police chase and was struck by the fleeing driver — and the victim's family believes a Donald Trump executive order is at least partially to blame.
Nolberto Armando Sanabria Meza, 46, was killed in June while driving on a bridge in the nation's capital. According to his family's attorney, no one has been held accountable, and the federal government's intervention in local affairs lies at the center of the case.
"There's so many limitations there," attorney Elizabeth Paige White said of citizens' difficulty in suing U.S. Park Police because it is a federal agency, not a state or local one. "And I think the question becomes, if the feds are gonna be conducting local police activity — traffic stops, engaging in chases, doing things that local police actually can't do, then there needs to be avenues to hold them accountable, and right now there are very limited ones."
"With this case, as of this point, no one's been held accountable," she added, according to local Fox affiliate WTTG.
In August 2025, Trump signed an executive order declaring a "crime emergency" in Washington, D.C., "to address the rampant violence and disorder that have undermined the proper and safe functioning of the Federal Government." The order enabled Park Police to "initiate vehicular pursuits when (1) the suspect is wanted for, or suspected of, committing a felony offense, or (2) a threat exists to the public based on the suspect's actions."
According to area NBC affiliate WRC, before the change in policy, U.S. Park Police officers could only pursue suspects if a violent felony had occurred or the suspect was known to be carrying a gun.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reportedly touted Trump's order and what it enabled federal police to do.
"I was shocked to find out when we were talking to them and you just pull somebody over and they just drive away and you can't pursue 'em, and they said, 'No, we can't.' They said, 'Old rules,'" Burgum recounted. "We got that rule changed in 24 hours because of President Trump's leadership. The next night, they had so much fun. They pulled people over, they started to take off, they chased 'em, they stopped 'em."
On June 20 at about 5:30 p.m., Park Police officers began following a silver 2014 Honda Accord they believed was stolen. Though they tried to pull the vehicle over, its driver apparently would not stop and headed to the William Howard Taft Bridge in the city.
Meza was on a moped at the time, and when the driver of the Accord crossed into oncoming traffic, it smashed into Meza head-on, causing him to be "ejected from the moped and into the street." Medics arrived at the scene, but he was pronounced dead.
The Honda continued until it crashed into "an occupied Toyota RAV4," and though the Accord's occupants apparently tried to run, they were arrested. Charges were announced against the 24-year-old driver, as well as two teenage passengers, but those charges were reportedly dropped the following day when federal authorities said the government was "not in receipt of all of the information needed to make a decision on charges."
Meza's family members believe they have the right to see the evidence.
"What happened to Mr. Meza is not only foreseeable but is a predictable outcome of this dangerous executive order, and we stand together with the community to say 'shame,'" White said, per WRC.