Tipsheet

How Bad Carjackings and Auto Thefts Have Become In the Nation's Capital with 2022 Barely Starting

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.

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.