Washington, D.C. is no stranger to crime waves and with 2022 barely a month old, the city has seen over 200 car thefts with it not being uncommon for juveniles to be carrying out the criminal acts.
Axios reported D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) data showed there were nearly 7,000 car thefts in the city from January 2020 to January 2022. Carjackings are also up 18 percent from 2020 to 2021. The biggest jump occurred from 2019 to 2020, 153 percent. As of January 20, there had been 37 carjackings in the city.
No one is spared from the crime, as exemplified when Nate Fleming, a candidate for the city council, was the victim of an armed carjacking.
"It's horrifying. This happened in broad daylight. I'm angry this happened, we must do the work to eliminate the circumstances that led to this violent act," said Fleming about the incident.
NEW footage of armed carjacking of DC council candidate @NateforDC.
— Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) January 19, 2022
Awful to see this happen as often as it does! Please watch & BOLO for these guys! This was Sat. 4200 NH Burroughs Ave NE. @fox5dc https://t.co/oK0N8Y0qdd pic.twitter.com/WgCxw5JWSR
On Tuesday, MPD announced they had arrested two suspected minors, a 13-year-old and 14-year-old, for an armed carjacking that happened on Monday. The suspects, originating from District Heights, Maryland, crossed a state line to allegedly commit the crime.
Just In: a 14yo male and a 13yo male, both of District Heights, MD, were arrested and charged with Armed Carjacking at 1700 blk of Massachusetts Ave NW 1 of the suspects showed a handgun and the victim fled. The suspects were caught by officers and a handgun was recovered. pic.twitter.com/ngKLxfQ6bn
— Ryan Sprouse (@RSprouseNews) January 25, 2022