The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced an 11-year-old black boy was responsible for a series of robberies in the city. The boy was arrested and charged on Saturday.
MPD say the child approached the his first victim on May 21 and demanded their property. When the victim declined, the suspect brandished a firearm and they complied. The suspect took the property and fled.
On May 24 and May 26, the suspect and a companion approached their victims on bicycles before attempting to rob them. In one case, the victim pushed one of the suspects away and and then fled. While running away, the victim saw one of the suspects pointing a firearm in their direction.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fourth District announce an arrest has been made in reference to robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon offenses that occurred in the Fourth District. https://t.co/ZB0rAjFbyy pic.twitter.com/5JZFDAeDAm
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) May 29, 2023
According to data from MPD, robberies are up 24 percent compared to the same time last year. Homicides are up 15 percent and total violent crime is up 16 percent. The chairman of the D.C. city council, Phil Mendelson (D), has testified to Congress the nation's capital is not experiencing a crime crisis.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, crimes that occurred included shootings, a car being set on fire with people inside, and a woman being found with stab wounds in the Navy Yard neighborhood.
#BREAKING: DC Police say a woman set a car on fire on 4th Street SE with a man, woman and two children inside. Man is critically injured. Three others suffered minor injuries. Accused arsonist in police custody @nbcwashington
— Tom Lynch (@TomLynch_) May 29, 2023
ANOTHER NAVY YARD HOMICIDE: unit block of Potomac Ave SE in #NavyYardDC-- female pronounced dead on the scene after being found suffering from stab wounds inside of an apartment. h/t @NavyYardCrime https://t.co/Xt3zGzPm7d pic.twitter.com/Won8CDhVb2
— MoCo PG News (@MoCoPGNews) May 30, 2023
“Crime is out of control in the Nation’s Capital and D.C. Police are doing everything we can with the amount of officers we have left. Officers are leaving faster than they can be replaced and we cannot find anybody to take this job because of the D.C. Council’s misguided and crippling anti-police legislation they passed," D.C. Police Union official Adam Shaatal told Townhall.