A 14-year-old youth was arrested by DC police on Tuesday after a series of dramatic, late-night ATM kidnappings and robberies that took place over the past week. The unnamed suspect has been charged with five counts of kidnapping while armed and a single count of armed robbery, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
In one of the incidents, on August 28, the victim was leaving the Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights at 2:25 AM and saw several suspects approach, according to a police report. One allegedly held him at gunpoint, while the other two zip-tied his hands. The victim tried to fight back, and was hit in the head, the report says. “Dude that’s not a real gun,” he yelled. They tussled for a bit, before the suspects stole $40 from his wallet and ran.
Another incident happened in Petworth, on August 26 at 1:14 AM; according to a police report, four suspects allegedly approached the victim with guns and beat him up. They put a “hat-like object” over his head, forced him into a car, and demanded his ATM PIN number, the report says, then drove to a bank and withdrew $500. According to the report, they pushed him out of the car at Children’s National Hospital.
In the H Street neighborhood one night, according to a report, a man was on his way to work at 3:30 AM when the suspects allegedly placed a bag over his head, drove him to an ATM, and pulled $1,400 from his account.
The other three incidents happened in Logan Circle and Mount Vernon Square. One of the victims was able to get the license plates of the suspects’ car. In all, there was more than $2,090 in cash and personal items stolen from six victims. No arrests have been made for the other three suspects.
Here’s the Metropolitan Police Department’s news release about the arrest:
MPD announces an arrest has been made in multiple Kidnapping While Armed (Gun) offenses that have occurred in DC since last Tuesday, August 24, 2021.
Thank you to all who assisted in making DC safer with this arrest!
Release: https://t.co/wzJvTSr16r pic.twitter.com/aJOKXkqIHO
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) September 1, 2021
Before becoming Research Editor, Damare Baker was an Editorial Fellow and Assistant Editor for Washingtonian. She has previously written for Voice of America and The Hill. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied international relations, Korean, and journalism.
