A Washington, D.C., resident’s Ring doorbell camera captured images of an armed carjacking near Capitol Hill Wednesday around 5 p.m.
The suspect, described as a Black male with a beard in his 20s or 30s, approached the victim and a child seated inside a white Mercedes-Benz C250 parked on the 700 block of 4th Street Northeast, just a short walk from Capitol Hill and Union Station.
The suspect brandished a knife and demanded the victim get out of the vehicle. When the victim refused, the suspect entered the vehicle and drove off with the victim and the child still inside.
“A short time later, the victim and the child were able to escape from the vehicle,” the Metro Police Department said in a report.
The suspect remains on the run. The victims sustained minor injuries, but no one was seriously hurt, police said.
MPD is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who shares information that could lead to the suspect’s arrest. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact police at 202-727-9099 or text a tip to the department’s Text Tip Line at 50411.
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There have been 332 motor vehicle theft incidents in D.C. so far in 2022 compared to 331 over the same time period last year. There have also been 651 theft-from-auto incidents compared to 712 at the same time last year, representing a 9% decrease. Robbery is up 49%, burglary is up 64% and general theft is up 20%, according to D.C. police crime statistics.
4th St. NE carjacking
(DC resident)
Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday addressed the uptick in carjackings — especially those involving juvenile suspects — over the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MPD arrested 34 adults and 59 juveniles for D.C. carjacking offenses in 2020. Those numbers increased to 50 adults and 101 juveniles in 2021. As of Feb. 1, 2022, MPD has arrested 19 adults and 14 juveniles for carjacking incidents.
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“We are focused, in both jurisdictions, on collaborating to make our communities safer for all people,” Bowser said in a statement. “And we are particularly focused on how we reach our young people – how we engage young people so they don’t get involved in violent activity, how we hold them accountable when then do, and how we get them on a more productive and positive path forward.”
Police vehicle on M St. NW in Georgetown
(Fox News)
Homicides are down 18% year over year, with 14 recorded so far in 2022 compared to 17 at the same time last year. Assaults with dangerous weapons are also down 4%. Still, violent crimes have made headlines in recent days due to their locations within the nation’s capital.
On Jan. 17, a Los Angeles nurse died after being attacked outside Union Station. Ten days later, on Jan. 7, five people were shot, including one fatally, at a Days Inn in a popular area of Northwest D.C., just blocks from Embassy Row.
On Jan. 31, a man was fatally shot in the heart of Georgetown on the corner of M Street Northwest and 33rd Street Northwest in an area lined with ritzy clothing stores and restaurants.
33rd and M St. NW.
(Fox News)
“Where are the police?” an employee at a Georgetown clothing store at M and 33rd St. told Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity. The store has experienced an increase in looting since 2020, he said.
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Now, managers of stores located on M Street share a group chat to keep each other updated on crime in the area, but “no one” sent information of the Jan. 31 shooting when it happened, the employee explained.
“There’s no police presence. But I also think the community is oblivious to what’s happening … just by walking the streets,” he said. “No one’s paying attention. No one’s looking around. If something were to happen to someone, no one would actually see it because everyone is so concentrated on what they’re doing.”
