D.C. a little safer (I hope).
 

My buds in D.C. have told me that crime has really been bad in our Nation's Capital. And shocking to some is how a lot of this violent crime was occuring right on the Mall, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. After reading about these crimes I'm surprised how it still utterly shocks me. The depravity of it all.:worried:


Five Arrested For Robberies, Sexual Assaults On Mall

By Channing Phillips, Public Affairs, Department of Justice
August 16, 2006

Five men ranging in age from 16 to 22 years old have been arrested and charged in connection with a series of armed robberies and sexual assaults that occurred on the National Mall last May and July. The five were taken into custody by USPP officers following an intensive investigation conducted by the Park Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Secret Service, the FBI, Prince George’s County PD, Metro Transit PD and Metropolitan PD. Another three individuals have also been arrested in connection with the use of credit cards stolen during the robberies. The following five incidents occurred on the Mall:

May 25, 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. – A couple walking on the Mall were approached by three young men, one armed with a gun. They were ordered to the ground at gunpoint and searched for money and valuables. Items taken from them included cash, a cell phone, and a wallet containing credit and ATM cards. One of the men committed a forceful sexual touching of the woman.

May 25, immediately after the above – The men approached another couple on the Mall and were also ordered to the ground and robbed of similar items. As in the first incident, one of them committed a forceful sexual touching of the woman. She was also kicked in the head by one of the men when she resisted.

May 27, 11 p.m. to midnight – A man and woman walking together on the Mall were approached by three young men, one armed with a gun. A jacket, wallet, cash and credit cards were taken from the man and his pants pockets were searched. Items and cash were also taken from the woman, who was then taken by the armed man to a grassy are of the Mall, where he raped her at gunpoint, then forced her to commit oral sodomy on him and a second man. The latter punched and kicked the man before joining the sexual assault.

July 11, about 10 p.m. – Two women were approached by two young men and robbed of their cell phones and cash on the grounds of the Washington Monument. During the robbery, one of the men committed a forceful sexual touching of one of the women.

July 11, 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. – A family of four – two adults with their two children, ages 9 and 15 – were walking on the Mall near the Washington Monument when they were approached by two men, one armed with a gun. They were forced to the ground at gunpoint, then robbed of cash and a camera.

Working methodically and following leads arising from an analysis of records from the stolen credit cards and a cell phone, interviews with witnesses, and the execution of more than a dozen search warrants, investigators identified and arrested the five men. A variety of assault and robbery charges have been filed against them. Three other men, ranging in age from 19 to 24, have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit theft in the first degree in connection with the use of some of the stolen credit cards. In announcing the arrests and charges against these defendants, U.S. attorney Kenneth Wainstein and USPP chief Dwight Pettiford commended the outstanding work of all members of law enforcement who worked tirelessly to close this investigation, particularly, lead detective Todd Reid of the U.S. Park Police and the outstanding team of detectives, along with David Knoedler of the U.S. Secret Service, Marty Flynn of the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Criminal Investigative Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, particularly, John Marsh and Larry Grasso. They also commended assistant U.S. attorneys Elana Tyrangiel and Dan Zachem.

Well, the citizens in D.C. have been disarmed... for their own protection, of course. See how well it works?

You've got to be pretty stupid to use credit cards that were stolen in a high profile crime like these.

I doubt the "three other men" knew exactly how hot the cards were. Probably they got nailed through the cards and then flipped on the original perps.

But not the citizens of the fine state of Virginia who work in DC. At least not this one.

The original perps are the stupid ones. They should have taken the cash and tossed the wallets and credit cards. Not used them or given them away to others who could finger them. But I guess if they were smart, they wouldn't be doing this at all.

I don't know.
 

I don't know. If I didn't want to get a job and I wanted to get some money and have some "fun" at the same time, I probably would assault people on the Mall, take their cash, then rape one of the victims and/or kick one of them in the head. It's all good.:neutral:

I don't think your VA carry permit will avail you of much in DC. And I say this as a holder of a FL permit that's good in VA, among other places.

OTOH, if you're operating under the "rather be judged by twelve than carred by six/easier to ask forgiveness than get permission" school of thought, good on you.

Even if these victims had been armed, it probably wouldn't have done much good, unfortunately--the perps would have just stolen the victims' guns as they searched them. Everyone I know who's been mugged has been taken completely by surprise, and usually from behind.

How many of them were armed?

I know that becoming an armed citizen has done wonders for my situational awareness. Just because your friends wander around in Condition White doesn't mean everybody has to.

Only one had a gun, that I had any knowledge of. He was robbed at gunpoint, knocked down--then shot the thief in the back as he was running off. If I recall the story correctly, he didn't stick around to find out how much damage was inflicted.

I really do think it's great that you have increased situational awareness. One of my friends does indeed exist in "Condition White," despite being robbed twice (I want to shake her sometimes). But as for the others...well, one guy, who I know is very streetwise, was walking down a main street in the middle of the afternoon, when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and had a gun shoved against his temple. He got out of it alive by calmly asking the attacker not to shoot him, and handing him his watch off his wrist. He couldn't move otherwise, and that was all he could do. I really don't know if he carried a gun or not (somehow it wouldn't surprise me if he did), but in that situation, it was a non-issue.

I think this is the part the gun grabbers don't get. You, an armed citizen, are aware and responsible. They think only of the Maurice Clarett scenario.

Good thing for him that he did; depending on the jurisdiction a court would probably have convicted him of ADW. Sounds like a real knucklehead...I bet his weapon wasn't legally carried.

Then the fact that he was blindsided doesn't speak to the issue, no matter how "street-wise" you think he is. The assertion was that being armed doesn't matter.

Legalizing firearms ownership and issuing Concealed Carry permits would start turning things around, based on the experience of quite a few states that have enacted such laws.