November 8, 2007
Morning Roundup: More Than $16 Million Edition
Good morning, Washington. The city is still reeling from the news that the U.S. Attorney's Office has indicted two employees from the District's Office of Tax and Revenue on charges of embezzling over $16 million. It's a staggering sum, and the Post cites officials who are calling it the largest theft ever uncovered in local government in the Washington area. The two women, Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus, are said to have used the money they stole to indulge in extravagant luxury items like furs, jewelry and designer handbags. Both of them were arrested yesterday and jailed overnight pending appearances today at U.S. District Court. As shocking as this news is, we can't help but almost be impressed by the brazenness displayed by these two criminals. Federal agents reportedly turned up a $160,000 Bentley in their raids yesterday. A Bentley! Did they honestly think no one would notice something like that?
Women Being Groped Along Orange Line: Hey ladies, listen up. Six women have had their asses grabbed from behind while walking home from Metro stations on the Orange line since September, including four in the past week. Apparently, police don't even think it's being done by the same guy, but rather some kind of epidemic of grab-assing in Arlington County of late. So we're curious: what exactly do men think is going to happen when you reach out and grab a strange woman's butt in a public place? Do you think we're going to turn around, say thank you very much, and take you home with us? Really?
Hospital Officially Sold: Greater Southeast Community Hospital was officially sold Wednesday to Specialty Hospitals of America, preventing it from closing. The sale came amid concerns voiced by some members of the D.C. Council that they were not told about the financial risks of the deal to the city, which put up $79 million, in enough time to make an informed decision.
Briefly Noted: Decision expected on ICC ... Fire breaks out inside boat at Washington Harbor ... Holmes Norton to target teens with HIV town hall meeting.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we speculated about what the outcome of that year's election might mean for D.C., and in 2005 we told you where you could go in the city to sample the year's Beaujolais Nouveau.
Photo by dc_cowgirl
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I'm sure they were asking for it.... the way they dress
I would have turned around and smacked him. Really hard.
a swift kick to the balls
I'm just waiting for the Eugene Robinson article tomorrow wherein he finds a way to blame Dick Cheney, gentrifiers, or some other usual suspect for the crimes and tackiness of these two useless human beings.
And the thing about that Bentley: nobody did notice it. Or at least nobody reported it because it wasn't until a bank teller in Bowie noticed something a little odd about somebody cashing a check for over four-fucking-thousand dollars that this amateur-hour thievery was uncovered. It seems as if the only thing they didn't do was walk out of the office with some of those dollar sign bags full of cash. And they probably didn't do that because they were too busy stuffing the cash into their fine collection of hand bags for the nouveau riche-set.
Reid - make that four-fucking-hundred-thousand dollars. f'reals.
After they throw the book at all of them, confiscate and sell their stuff, perhaps the Tax Office will issue Neiman-Marcus gift certificates to DC taxpayers with the proceeds.
i bet they were republicans. Those toe-tappin grab-assers are good for nothing.
Ces12, you must have misread the news report; the victims were all females. So that pretty much rules out any Republicans.
Are Republicans are allowed to work for the DC government?
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmn! I can see maybe stealing a few hundred dollars but daaaaaaaamn..
16 million. Whose minding the mint? No wonder there was no money for the schools.
It should read:
Largest theft so far
haha reid - well said.
What with all the assgrabbing on Metro and dryhumping in the bars and clubs, DC is going to rival Tokyo for Frottage Capitol of the World. I know it beats Murder Capitol, but yalls need to aim a lil higher.
mymidgetfriend--
i'm sure you thought your comment was funny.
however, it is people like you, who think comments like that are funny, that contribute to a society where men think it's OK to grab a stranger's ass. it's not about sex, so much as it is about power and control. and belittling assault on women only proves that you approve of such acts, acts which terrorize women every day in this city, and around the world.
onefemme--
Are you saying it's society's fault that some guy (or guys) is going around grabbing women's asses? Because I'm pretty sure it's actually the fault of the d-bag psychopath who's doing the grabbing, not lame comments on a blog.
EdTheRed--
How do you know mymidgetfriend isn't one of the d-bag psychopaths who is doing the grabbing? It's possible to be an ass grabber and someone who makes lame comments on a blog. They aren't mutually exclusive.
I'm pretty sure parodying people you think are idiots (such as a "they were asking for it" comment) is pretty clearly not an endorsement, but is instead mocking the people who actually believe the statement.
Anyway, I hope somebody maces these assaulting jerks asap.
In my limited experience (not in DC) as a "grabee" I have found "grabers" are quick and sly. I have never been able to correctly pinpoint who had done it because it was done when it was crowded. So macing was never an alternative...
And with everyone quickly retreating back behind their stock baby panda avatars, it would be that much more difficult to identify the offending blog commenter/d-bag psychopath/grabbor.