Carjackings have become a rampant problem in the nation’s capital, with two high-profile victims in recent months: an off-duty FBI agent and a congressman.
The FBI agent, who was not identified, was carjacked near Capitol Hill on Friday afternoon, according to the D.C. police. Two armed suspects approached the agent’s vehicle in the 100 block of 12th St. NE and demanded the keys. The agent complied and was not injured. The suspects fled the scene in the stolen vehicle.Police said the vehicle was found about 4:10 p.m. in the 1000 block of 15th Street SE, about one mile south of Lincoln Park and two blocks from the Potomac Avenue Metro station.
Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas. The congressman was carjacked at gunpoint in the Navy Yard neighborhood, just blocks away from the U.S. Capitol. Three men in black clothing and masks confronted Cuellar as he was entering his apartment building and took his car and phone.
“I was just coming into my place. Three guys came out of nowhere and they pointed guns at me. I do have a black belt, but I recognize when you got three, three guns — I looked at one with a gun and another with a gun, a third one behind me — So they said they wanted my car. I said, ‘Sure.’ You’ve got to keep calm under those situations. And then they took off,” Cuellar told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Cuellar’s car and phone were later found by the police. The congressman thanked the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for their swift response and said he was grateful that he was not harmed.
These incidents are part of a disturbing trend in the city, which has seen a sharp increase in carjackings this year. According to statistics from the Metropolitan Police Department, over 900 incidents have occurred this year so far, 77% of which involved guns. The police have attributed the rise in carjackings to a combination of factors, including the availability of guns, the ease of selling stolen cars, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and social services.
The spike in carjackings has also sparked a political debate over public safety in the nation’s capital.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,a Republican from Kentucky, took to the Senate floor Tuesday to rail against the skyrocketing crime rates in D.C. and across the country, focusing specifically on carjackings.
“This is what private American citizens are facing every single day,” McConnell said, referring to the carjacking of Cuellar. “American families deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their neighborhoods, and certainly in the nation’s capital.”
Relevant articles:
– FBI agent carjacked near Capitol Hill
– FBI agent carjacked on Capitol Hill, authorities say
– Rep. Henry Cuellar gives firsthand account of being carjacked
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