Results tagged “police”

The Metropolitan Police Department has released security camera images of a man wanted in a series of recent bank robberies. Police say the suspect in question may be responsible for the Nov. 21 attempted robbery of a Bank of America branch in the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue NW, and a Nov. 14 robbery of a PNC Bank branch in the 3300 block of 14th Street NW.

The fatal shooting of 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes inside his Columbia Heights apartment on Saturday night was not gang-related, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Lanier, along with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham, this morning announced the arrest of Josue Pena, 26, in the killing. Pena has been charged with first degree murder.

UPDATE: According to MPD Commander George Kucik, a young child was shot and killed shortly after 9:30 p.m. tonight at an apartment on the 1400 block of Columbia Road NW. WUSA9 is reporting that the victim was a seven-year-old boy, but other outlets are reporting that the victim was a nine-year-old. WJLA/ABC7 is also reporting that the shooting occurred as family members were walking back from a party. The group was approached by a man with a gun, who, after a short chase, reportedly shot the child in the back. Detectives are currently investigating and anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty appeared on WRC/NBC4 this morning to take questions from Barbara Harrison on the whole cycling team police escort/WTOP brouhaha. The mayor actually did a pretty good job explaining himself to Harrison, noting (correctly) that his security detail has been greatly reduced since he first took office, but at the same time appearing contrite and promising to do away with the motorcycle escort during his training exercises from now on.

The man who was shot and killed while trying to board a Metrobus near 14th and H Streets NE this morning was George Rawlings, the brother of DeOnté Rawlings, according to the Washington Post. DeOnté Rawlings was 14 when he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in 2007.

A man was shot multiple times earlier today while attempting to board a Metrobus near 14th and H Streets NE. D.C. Police are currently investigating the shooting, which took place just before noon.

Despite another fatal shooting in Northeast last night, it's worth noting that with less than two months left to go in 2009, the District has recorded 123 homicides all year long, according to D.C. police crime data. That figure continues to reflect a 25 percent decrease in the number of homicides compared to this time last year, when there were already 164 homicides on the books. By all accounts, the Metropolitan Police Department has also seen an improvement in homicide arrests this year.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's obsession with physical fitness may be about to get him into trouble with his constituents. It seems that when he's out training with his cycling team, D.C. Velo, the mayor has been using a large motorcycle police escort that allow him to both flaunt traffic regulations and tie up traffic, WTOP's Mark Segraves is reporting. WTOP spotted Fenty and his team as they "rode on parkways where bikes aren't permitted, ran red lights and stop signs and created traffic backups wherever they went." These rides reportedly occur during weekday business hours, and there's evidence that they are responsible for a large amount of police overtime hours spent doing nothing but waiting for the mayor to show up for his ride. Plus, there's video!

Former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker is back in the news this week, thanks to agreeing to appear in this PSA for the DUICheckpoint campaign, a joint effort from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. You'll recall that Baker retired from his position shortly before pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and serving five days in jail.

A pair of large police and emergency responses to report going on downtown today.

D.C. Police say they are investigating two fatal shootings that happened overnight in Northeast.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Wednesday that they have doubled the reward money, to $50,000, for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two gunmen who shot and killed 17-year-old Kenyetta Nicholson-Stanley on Oct. 8. Nicholson-Stanley was shot while standing in a playground in the 500 block of Edgewood Street NE, and was merely a bystander. The suspects are believed to have been targeting a security guard who worked in the Edgewood Terrace apartments.

The story of Pepin Tuma, the local lawyer who back in July was arrested by a D.C. police officer after singing the words "I hate the police" while walking down U Street, has made its way in front of the D.C. Council, leading to serious talk about revising the District's disorderly conduct laws. The Legal Times blog and Huffington Post both covered Friday's hearing, during which Tuma testified about his experience while flanked by pro bono counsel from his former firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. And it looks like Tuma's message got through to Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary chairman Phil Mendelson. From the BLT: 'During the hearing, Mendelson made it clear he thought it was time for changes in the law, pointing out that parts of it were more than a century old, and that it had been criticized by Gerald Ford’s President’s Commission On Crime in the District of Columbia.' Unsurprisingly, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles have expressed their opposition to changing the law, which currently allows officers latitude in making arrests for what they deem to be disorderly conduct. The officer in this case, however, is being investigated by both the police department's Internal Affairs Bureau and the independent Office of Police Complaints, according to Huffington Post.

D.C. police say that two of their officers fatally shot a 19-year-old man at about 5 a.m. this morning in the 900 block of 21st Street NE. The Post first reported word of the shooting earlier today, but the AP has more details now: Police say the two officers, who still have not been named, responded to a call for an unwanted guest at a home in that block early this morning, and subsequently shot and killed James Broadus Miller, 19. According to police, Miller confronted the officers with a gun before he was shot. No other injuries were reported.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. on Thursday denied the District's petition to re-hear its case challenging the constitutionality of the police checkpoint program used in Trinidad in 2008.

As if the drive-by shooting Tuesday at the Clay Terrace housing projects, which left two teens dead and three others wounded, wasn't tragic enough, the Washington Post is citing police sources today who indicate that one of the slain victims, 15-year-old Davonta Artis, was an innocent bystander. Preliminary word from D.C. police is that the drive-by resulted from a dispute between two rival crews, from 37th Place SE and Clay Terrace, over a set of stolen handguns. Artis, according to the Post, appears to have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

View Barrage of Gunfire in Shaw in a larger map

UPDATE 9:20 p.m. We can now confirm that the second victim has in fact died. The Post has also updated its story.

Two people were shot earlier this afternoon in the 1300 block of First Street SW. The shooting occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m., D.C. Police said. D.C. Fire/EMS said emergency responders transported one man found shot on First Street SW and a second man who was found shot in the alley off N Street SW, near Howison Place SW. Both men are said to have been in critical condition when they were taken to local hospitals.

News broke late last week that Hawk One, the company that was responsible for providing security guards at the District of Columbia's 127 public schools, had gone belly up. The timing couldn't have been worse, as D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee handed out 388 pink slips to teachers and staff on the very day that the Hawk One guards didn't show up to work. The combination may well have exacerbated a skirmish that broke out at McKinley High School on Friday in reaction to the layoffs, during which two people were arrested.

If you're concerned about average D.C. street crime (and who isn't), you really need to be reading Borderstan on a regular basis. The blog has been doing a consistently great job of warning residents about the everyday muggings and burglaries that mostly go unreported by larger media outlets, and this week has been no exception. Note this report of a 9 a.m. mugging bank robbery on K Street: D.C. police were searching for a suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying robbery suspect on Monday who successfully mugged some unsuspecting pedestrian. "And you have to love the irony of mugger in a suit on K Street." Indeed. (Hat tip City Desk). UPDATE: As noted in comments, this particular crime appears to have been a bank robbery and not a mugging. My praise of Borderstan's general vigilance about street crime still stands, though.

Remember when D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told the Washington Times that she believed the District of Columbia could end up with fewer than 100 homicides in 2009?

Two different suspicious package investigations shut down several downtown streets and the Foggy Bottom Metro station today. The first, inside a bank in the 800 block of Pennsylvania Ave., was called in just after 11 a.m. and forced the partial closure of 9th, Pennsylvania and D Street in the area. That package has already been cleared. The second incident is an unclaimed suitcase in the Foggy Bottom Metro station, and police have since shut down the station itself, along with 23rd Street from G to I Streets and I Street from 21-23rd Streets NW. The Metro station remained closed as of about 3 p.m. UPDATE 3:56 p.m.: Foggy Bottom Metro and all related streets have been reopened.

Have you had your bike stolen recently? Has the lack of breeze in your face been causing you to break down in long periods of longing and caused you to endlessly peruse Craigslist for junkers? You're not alone. So not alone, in fact, that the police have recovered enough in-tact sets of wheels from Washington's ubiquitous bike thieves that they might be able to provide you with a cure for your bikeless malady. The Second District Police Station, located at 3320 Idaho Ave., NW, will host a "bike viewing" on Wednesday between 3:30pm until 6:30pm in the community room of the building. For those who have had their bicycle stolen: be sure to bring receipts, serial numbers, and any other identifying information to the station. We'll cross our fingers for you.

At least two more suspects have now been arrested in the Aug. 18 slaying of a pizza restaurant owner in the Edgewood neighborhood, WTOP's Mark Segraves reports. One suspect, Shanika Robinson, had already been arrested in the killing of Pizza Mart co-owner Shahabuddin Rana a few weeks ago, but now her brother, Leon Robinson, has also been taken into custody and charged with first degree murder. Segraves also tells DCist that a third suspect, whose name we still don't know, has been arrested in the time since this initial report. Police allege that Rana was killed after a false marriage arrangement between Shanika Robinson and Rana's brother fell apart. Rana had been paying Robinson $500 a week to be married to his brother so that he could get a green card, according to police, but at some point Rana stopped the payments. Further complicating the sordid case is the death of Terrance Green, a D.C. police officer who committed suicide earlier this month after he was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in the case.

D.C. Police announced Thursday that they have made an arrest in the April 6 sexual assault of a female victim inside her home in the 1500 block of Marion Street NW. Police say physical evidence linked a suspect to the attack, and 25-year-old George Leroy Clowers of no fixed address has since been arrested and charged with first degree sexual abuse and burglary one. The crime was the sort that gives city-dwelling women everywhere nightmares: at around 3 a.m., the suspect broke into the victim's house in the Shaw neighborhood, sexually assaulted her and then stole some of her stuff before fleeing.

WTOP has the latest in the kerfuffle between the D.C. Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police: Chief Cathy Lanier confirms that MPD has filed an appeal in an attempt to overturn a September 9th arbiter's ruling that the "All Hands On Deck" program violates the police union's contract with the city. (The FOP claims, among other issues, that overtime pay as a result of AHOD efforts was never paid to deserving officers.) As a result of the appeal, the police department will continue with plans to hold AHOD efforts in November and December. Depending on which agency's statistics one chooses to believe, it's been a pretty good year for Lanier and the police -- a large labor dispute is probably not the note the Chief envisioned ending the calendar year on.

The shop in question is in the 800 block of H Street NE, located in the same strip mall as a McDonald's.

What constitutes a violent crime? That's the question at the root of this report from the Examiner's Scott McCabe, which notes that an FBI report released on Monday shows that violent crime in the District actually increased by 2.3 percent in 2008, despite D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier's triumphant announcement earlier this year that it had dropped by 5 percent. The FBI and the MPD use different measurements, you see, when it comes to counting violent crimes. "Under the D.C. Code, a punch is considered a simple assault; under the FBI's definition, it's considered an aggravated assault, or a violent crime, D.C. police said." So according to the MPD, if someone punches you in the face and steals your wallet, that's not a violent crime? Or a man beating his wife is not a violent crime?

D.C. Police officers shot and killed a man in Southeast D.C. at about 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. Police were responding to what appears to be a strange 911 call to 1767 Trenton Place SE, not far from the Southern Ave. Metro station, when the shooting occurred.