National Night Out City-Wide Kick Off in Trinidad

Here's the announcement:

Join Councilmember Thomas at the Kick Off for National Night Out

Washington, DC-Ward 5 Councilmember Harry "Tommy" Thomas, Jr. invites you to join him-along with police officials from the Metropolitan Police Department, officers from the Fifth Police District, members of the 5D Citizens Advisory Council, and community leaders-at the city-wide kick-off for the 27th Annual National Night Out, which is being held in Ward 5. Event details are as follows:

Who: Councilmember Thomas, MPD, 5DCAC, Community Leaders and You!
What: 27th Annual National Night Out
Where: Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310 Childress Street, NE
When: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - 6 pm to 9 pm

As part of the evening's celebrations at Trinidad Recreation Center, Councilmember Thomas will join with Bishop Michael V. Kelsey of the New Samaritan Baptist Church to announce details of the church's Awesome August program.

And at 7:30 pm, residents can join the officers of MPD on a community bike ride along the Metropolitan Branch Trail.

PSA: Call the Police if You See Kids Throwing Rocks

This disturbing email went out on the 5-D listserv (but this kind of thing happens all over DC, and seem to be talked about the most in Columbia Heights):

I just want to let the listserv know that my neighbor on Hanover was walking home from the McDonalds at 1st and NY NE at around 4pm a few days ago and a 10-11 year old male kid threw a rock at her and almost put her eye out. The doctor said she may not regain her sight in that eye.


Evidently the McDonalds employee's had already chastised this kid a few times for throwing rocks around there. I know this is across the border in 6D but a lot of us go back and forth through that corridor.


I dont know if the police have found the kid yet, but I sure hope they do.


Just a heads up for everyone to watch out.

Shooting @16th & Raum

A pretty disturbing alert just went out on the MPD-5D listserv. About an hour ago police responded to 1265 16th Street where they found a female suffering from a gunshot wound to the face. She was conscious and is in stable condition. Police are looking for a black male wearing a black Northface jacket and a black ski mask. He entered the home through the backdoor and fled into the alley.
This is located in northeastern Trinidad, immediately south of Mt. Olivet Road and immediately west of Bladensburg Road.

Crime News

The Checker's on Maryland is taking additional security measures after a patron was raped shortly after leaving the establishment (she encountered her assailants inside Checker's and the followed her), and another couple were beaten just outside. They've installed security cameras (there are now reported to be nine cameras on the property).

The Capitol Hill Robbery Spree is getting some attention. Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Well's is calling for additional foot and bike patrols. In a related note, Wells is looking at activites for youth this summer to make sure there are enough positive options to keep kids busy this summer. NBC4 covers the mini-crime wave and interviews ANC Commissioner Joe Fengler about his recent involvement in an incident.

CP: Crime Lab Techs Ditch DC

City Paper discusses DC's crime lab tech rentention issue. Don't look for CSI DC any time soon.

Alley Rape Suspect Sketch

This is the sketch of the older rape suspect. Get more info here.

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UPDATE

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This was in an email sent out by the Director of Constituent Services from Tommy Well's office: Sexual Assault on 1300 G Street, NE - D.C. police are looking for two suspects in a sexual assault. According to MPD, at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4th, a 33-year-old woman and her 3-year-old daughter had an altercation with two men at the Checkers at 14th Street and Maryland Avenue. As they walked down the 1300 block of G Street after they left the restaurant, two men followed them to the edge of an alley, where one man pulled out a knife, police said. The men forced the woman and her daughter into the alley and sexually assaulted the woman.

This is the first time I've seen that information. That makes it particularly odd if they aren't (and maybe they are, I don't know) getting some good witnesses from Checkers.

VOH: Crime Down in Area

Voice of the Hill has a piece on how crime in the 1st District, in spite of some high profile cases that have drawn recent attention (e.g. a crazy guy attacking people with a screwdriver on Barracks Row, and the recent rape of a woman in an alley in front of her three year old), is actually experiencing a downward trend.

WP: DC / PG Team-Up to Clean-Up Border

According to the Washington Post District police and police from Prince George's County will increase across the border sharing of information and will also step up patrols along the border to deal with theproblem of criminals who easily pass from one jurisdiction to the other.

Reward Offered in Alley Rape

from the 1-D listserv:

REWARD

UP TO $1,000 REWARD

AT APPROXIMATELY 5:45 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2007, A WOMAN WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY ONE OF TWO MEN WHO FORCED HER INTO THE REAR OF 1336 G STREET, N.E.

THE FIRST SUSPECT IN THIS CASE IS DESCRIBED AS SUSPECT NUMBER ONE IS DESCRIBED AS A BLACK, MALE, 30’S, 6’1”, 200 LBS, MEDIUM COMPL, MIXED GRAY BEARD, BLACK HOODIE, STONE WASHED BLUE JEANS, BLACK TENNIS SHOES, ARMED WITH A KNIFE THAT HAS A WOODEN HANDLE AND A HOOK ON THE END. SUSPECT #2 IS DESCRIBED AS A B/M, LIGHT COMPLEXION, BLACK BASEBALL CAP, AND BLACK JACKET WITH A ZIPPER IN THE FRONT.

THE POLICE ARE ASKING ANYONE WITH INFORMATION TO PLEASE CALL THE DEPARTMENT’S OPERATIONS COMMAND CENTER AT 202/727-9099 OR THE DEPARTMENT’S CRIME SOLVERS UNIT AT 1-800-673-2777. ALL CALLS TO CRIME SOLVERS ARE CONFIDENTIAL. IF A CALLER PROVIDES INFORMATION THROUGH CRIME SOLVERS THAT LEADS TO AN ARREST AND INDICTMENT, HE/SHE WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REWARD OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.

When The Unthinkable Happens

An alley in Near Northeast (NOT where the rape occurred).

I'm talking, of course, about last week's rape of a 33 year old woman at knife point. It happened in an alley, in front of her 3 year old daughter (who was restrained by a second man), during daylight hours (5:45pm). It happened after they stopped at the Checker's on Maryland to get some dinner. It happen near 13th & G (Linden Court). So far there seems to have been very little in terms of news coverage (read the story or watch the video from NBC4). He's the original email sent out by MPD Cmdr. Groomes (1-D):
From: "Groomes, Diane (MPD)" diane.groomes@dc.gov
To: MPD-1D@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 5, 2007 10:25:10 AM
Subject: [MPD-1D] SEXUAL ASSAULT IN PSA 102/103 BORDER LAST NIGHT

AT APPROXIMATELY 2100 HOURS MPD RECEIVED A CALL FROM A FEMALE VICTIM REPORTING THAT SHE WAS INSIDE THE CHECKERS RESTAURANT WITH HER DAUGHTER WHEN SHE ENCOUNTERED TWO MEN IN THE LOBBY – SHE EXITED THE CHECKERS (14TH AND MD) AND WAS THEN FOLLOWED BY THE TWO MEN TO THE 1300 BLK OF G ST NE WHERE ONE SUSPECT – B/M, LATE 30S, 6’1” WITH BLK/GRY BEARD WITH HOODY SHIRT GRABBED HER INTO THE ALLEY AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER ( THE SECOND ASSAILANT WAS DESCRIBED AS B/M IN HIS TWENTIES WITH BLK BASEBALL CAP AND BLK JACKET ON)

ANYONE WITH ANY INFORMATION – PLS CALL 727-9099

Ignore the 2100 hrs thing, it doesn't appear to be correct since police were on the scene way before that time.

Pretty disgusting and sad for all of us, particularly the woman and her daughter (who do live in the neighborhood). Crimes like this (occurring suring daylight hours, taking place in front of the woman's daughter) are particularly disturbing. They get under your skin in a way that a simple shooting really can't. Because they make you wonder how any human can be so depraved, and then they make you wonder what someone like that was even doing down the street from your home.

After worrying about these questions for a while, we have to think about how we can minimize these things in the future. Alleys aren't exactly unsafe, but often they are a little more secluded than the street and that sometimes means that a certain type of people feel more comfortable committing crimes back there. I consider the alley where I live now to generally be better than when I lived on I Street. While the one on I Street wasn't a haven for prostitutes, it suffered from constant illegal dumping and was otherwise generally deserted except for the teens who would gather there to smoke a little pot. It was also very poorly lit at night. Where I live now we have a big wide alley that is generally cleaner than many alleys in Trinidad (though we've had our own trash problems recently), we have some streetlights (though at least one always seems to be burned out), we hold alley clean-ups, and many of us are in the alley a lot just talking or checking on things. Recently a neighbor of mine was hit in the head by a 2x4 that a large group of kids (maybe 12 years old) threw at him seemingly for fun. Other people have been held up at gun point, we have had multiple stolen cars dumped here (I ran into a group of kids doing just that on Thursday night), and last summer I chased two kids down the alley who were attempting to steal my housemate's scooter. So, I guess we have problems here too.

My question is what can we (the District government, the residents, the ANCs, the MPD, the H Street business community) do to help combat this kind of crime? How can we make our selves (and vistors to our neighborhood) safer?

NBC4: Woman Raped After Leaving Checkers

NBC4 reports that woman leaving the Checkers on Maryland Avenue with her daughter around 5:45pm Wednesday was forced into an alley near 13th & G Street at knifepoint. One of the two assailants raped the woman, while the other restrained her daughter. The two men walked off after they had finished.

Just a quick reminder, because of the nature of the crime, please refrain from posting any potentially identifying information about the victim.

CVS Robbed

I've gotten a report that the CVS at the Starburst intersection (the hub where several streets meet and H Street turns into Benning Road) was robbed. There were no injuries, but an elderly woman fainted (EMS was on the scene). An earlier version of this posting did not display correctly, so sorry if you saw only the combination of two sentences.

Music is Bulletproof @Argonaut

Dj Key-K returns. Many of you will remember Quike Morales (Dj Key-K), a bartender/waiter at the Argonaut (1433 H Street), who was shot last September. Well, he's back djing at the Argonaut, and it's for a special cause. Details from the flyer below:

Quike Morales a.k.a DJ Key-K is a victim of a violent crime. He was shot in the head on September 30th 2006 while standing on his girlfriend’s porch at 637 14th Pl, a block away from the Argonaut. As a result of the shooting, he lost an eye and a piece of his skull. DJ Key-K is still waiting for 2 more surgeries but recovering fast from his injuries.
“Music is Bulletproof” is a way for him to show his appreciation to friends and customers of the Argonaut who have helped him in these difficult months of his life, and to raise his voice against the violence in this neighborhood. Admission is free, and any money raised will be used to benefit other victims of violent crimes.
In an effort to raise awareness, Quike is hoping to do similar events in all the bars around H Street in a bid to get the attention of DC authorities and community leaders.
Along with DJ Key-K is DJ Seth-B, who was one of the first people to show support for this campaign against violence.

MUSIC IS BULLETPROOF
An event against violence in your neighborhood.
Be a part of the solution.

“Music is the medicine of the soul” - DJ Key-K

When: around 9pm Saturday Feb 24
Where: 1433 H Street (the Argonaut)

Carjacking on Morse Last Night

A group of people working on a building had there car taken at gun point last night around 5:30pm in the 1400 block of Morse. No injuries.

WT: Illegal Funeral Home on H Street

Experiencing a deficiency in wacky news? Washington Times to the rescue. They report on the District's efforts to shut down an unlicensed (the owner claims he wasn't operating yet) funeral parlor located at 1337 H Street (the building next to Phish Tea). A search, following an anonymous tip in November, revealed embalming materials within. The owner, who says his family has been in the funeral business for generations, blamed his legal troubles on what he called the "funeral cartel," or the "funeral mafia" (which he claimed excerted pressure on the District to target him).

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UPDATE
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Interestingly, while walking back from the Rock & Roll Hotel tonight, we were greeted by a man walking into this building wearing a jacket with wording that my friend (I didn't have a good view of he jacket) said something about funerals. So apparently, Mr. Ridley (I'm assuming this was him, and not some member of the funeral mafia) is not too afraid to bravely move forward with getting his business in order.

Teen May Not Have Shot Self

Police are now saying that the 17 year old, Kevin Thomas, did not shoot at the police (as police had intially reported) but did point a gun at officers. It also appears he was hit multiple times by police gun fire, and that he may not have fired the fatal gun shot wound to the head. It also now appears that the youth accidentally shot his aunt, and that it was not the result of a domestic disturbance (as previously reported in the Post). Mr. Thomas' family has suggested that police shot the youth while he was trying to surrender. Read the Post article for the full story.

Police: Teen Shot Himself

The 17 year old who who shot and wounded his aunt before fleeing and encountering police was stuck down by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Police initially believed that one of them had delivered the fatal shot, but closer examination and witness accounts confirmed the boy as the shooter. The teen, Kevin Thomas, lived at 5th and K, but shot himself after running about a block to 6th & I. Mr. Thomas would have turned 18 today. Read the Post story.

NBC4: Police Kill Teen Gunman

6th & I Street NE. Here's the story. No video available online yet. This apparently stems from a domestic disturbance.

Shots Fired & More in NE

Here's the full report as received:
From: Groomes, Diane (MPD)
Sent: Sat 2/10/2007 6:57 PM
To: 'mpd-1d@yahoogroups.com'
Cc: Groomes, Diane (MPD)
Subject: Events tonite. 6th and I ne

Tonite. At approximately 1710 hours. Mpd responded to domestic shooting in 500 blk of k subject to ne. Upon arrival they found female shot and critical. The shooter fled with mpd in pursuit when shooter engaged in gunfire with mpd aT 6th and I ne. Suspect is deceased. Officers ok pending investigation on use of force. Another of. Our officers who was responding wrecked scout car at 8th and mass ave ne. Was injured

WP: Crime Camera Delays

The Post on the long wait to get cameras into crime trouble spots (Carver Terrace has at least one camera on the way).