In conjunction with the investigation into the murder of Michael and Virginia Spevak, ABC 7 reports that D.C. Police discovered a safe and computer during yesterday’s search of the backyard and alley behind 622 Ingraham St. NW.

A neighbor also found a charred ID belonging to Dr. Spevak in the alley.

Inspector Rodney Parks, addressing the press yesterday at the scene of the investigation, refused to confirm or deny the discovery of a computer. “Items were taken,” he told us, “and burglary appears to be the motive. But we haven’t ruled out anything else.”

NBC is also reporting the discovery of a safe.

Photograph above: D.C. Police package evidence in the Ingraham alley on 11/24/08

This afternoon in the backyard of 622 Ingraham Street NW, police found evidence relating to the murder of Michael and Virginia Spevak . The house is less than twenty yards from the spot where the Spevaks’ blue 2005 Scion was torched in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Officers have brought in four of the house’s residents for questioning and are preparing to execute a search warrant on 622.

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Police are mounting a full-scale investigation after the brutal murder last night of an elderly couple in Chevy Chase, D.C.

The victims, identified as Dr. Michael Spevak and Virginia Spevak, had been bound and brutalized after an apparent break-in. Their car—a 2005 blue Toyota Scion—was discovered this morning around 5 a.m. in the 500 block of Ingraham Street, NW, swathed in flames.

More below the jump, including photos, updates, and the official police statement.

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Washington City Paper had heard from various readers that the MPD was setting up checkpoints in Petworth, and as of this evening can now verify two checkpoints, which the MPD conducted under the guise of  “community outreach efforts” tonight for an hour at the intersections of Kennedy & 7th and Kennedy & 1st streets. Around 25 officers  could be seen stopping cars, checking licenses, running plates, and citing minor seatbelt and cell-phone infractions. Many road flares and many police vans.

UPDATE: The MPD is flooding the neighborhood with recruits. They can be heard yelling “HOORAH.”

UPDATE: According to Officer R. Mullins, the MPD is conducting “a routine walk-through,” something it does “every four to five months” using recruits from the police academy. Mullins said three classes are out tonight, or about 75 recruits, plus various commanding officers.

UPDATE: According to a release that went out to the MPD-4D listserv around 2 p.m., Mayor Fenty is calling tonight’s MPD activities “City-wide All Hands on Deck Phase IV.” In addition to the MPD maintaining checkpoints and conducting foot patrols, “homicide detectives [will be] following up with victims.” No word yet on whether said follow-ups will involve members of DC’s medium community.

At 8:05 this morning, more than 120 firefighters descended on 1034 Quebec Place, NW, where a massive blaze had consumed most of the house, inflicted extensive damage to the homes on either side, and charred a corpse on the second floor beyond recognition.

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Last night at 6:45 p.m., Keith Jarrell convened a neighborhood round table at MPD fourth district headquarters to discuss the Petworth shootings with high-ranking police officials. Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, Councilmembers Muriel Bowser and Phil Mendelson, and Lieutenant Will Manlapaz of the homicide unit addressed a packed room of concerned citizens in an occasionally contentious, mainly symbolic gathering.

“The last three or four days have been pretty gruesome,” Jarrell said in his opening remarks. Fourth District Commander Linda Brown agreed, calling the past weekend “a little brutal.”

“We’ve saturated the area,” Brown said. “We’ve questioned a number of people, and we’re trying to weed through what testimony is true and what’s wrong.”

Brown also expressed confidence that forensic analysis of the 9mm shells found on the Georgia and Crittenden scenes would lead to a more definitive link, and alluded to a meeting with Bowser to ensure maintaining that police presence in and around the scenes.

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At the Yum’s on Kennedy, we set up shop last night to film patrons on the recent Petworth shootings. Things were going just fine. It was after 11 p.m.

Then a lady came running towards us. She had a warning for us.

Something about a dog on the loose.

She ran into the Yum’s. We saw the dog—a pit bull. And yes, I admit, I scurried into the Yum’s. Ted, I admit, played it cool. Even though they were safe inside, people screamed some more. I may or may not have screamed like an eight-year-old.

Eventually, I calmed down enough. Ted got some footage of the pit bull. For City Desk. We are very brave. We should be given an award or a free lunch.

We also captured the musings of one Petworth resident about pit bulls, a recent stabbing, violence in general, the police, and Obama:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

Last night, we interviewed a number of Petworth residents about this past weekend’s series of shootings. We’ve been covering it a lot. So we thought we should take the video camera out and talk to real people. We hit 8th and Crittenden and interviewed two residents who provided some interesting details surrounding the shootings:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

This past weekend, a series of shootings rattled Petworth. There was a shooting on Marlboro Place causing multiple injuries. A fatal shooting at Georgia and Allison. And a burst of gunfire at 8th and Crittenden (only a bunch of cars were shot up). It provoked a promise from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier of a devotion of resources, manpower, etc. If you live in Petworth, Lanier asserted you’d see a “saturation” of cops.

Last night, we decided to factcheck Lanier’s promise. We saw one cop on Marlboro Place. He sat in his idling cruiser, his laptop set to his AOL account. Georgia and Allison was quiet. At 8th and Crittenden, we saw only an empty cruiser parked up the block. We decided to wait and see if any real cops would ever show up.

We listened to reggae in our Corolla. We ran out of small talk. We swapped college stories. We got excited when a cab pulled up. We watched neighbors parallel park. And we got real bored and real cold. Watch:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

Tonight I spoke briefly with Asst. Police Chief Diane Groomes, who offered a couple new details on this weekend’s spate of shootings in Petworth.

First, good news for the man left in critical condition after the shooting Friday night on Marlboro Place.  Groomes reports that the victim—who was shot in the head—is showing signs of improvement.

“He’s making a little progress—thanks goodness he’s pulling through,” Groomes said.  “We’re hoping for a recovery.”

As of this evening, no one is in custody.  And as for suspects, here’s all Groomes could tell us:

“It was several black males who opened fire.  Some witnesses say there were two, some say there were three…some say there were six.  Right now we’ve got a general lookout.”

Groomes was reluctant to speculate on a precise relation between the Marlboro attacks, the shootout on Crittenden, and the homicide on the 4500 block of Georgia Avenue.

“We will do a link analysis of all bullets and casings, and I can’t say right now if there’s a connection.”

We’re wondering why that link analysis still hasn’t been done.  9mm shells were found on both scenes.

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For those of you following the rash of shootings in Petworth this weekend, Police Chief Cathy Lanier left this post on the MPD 4th District message board at 7:59 PM — less than a half hour after rounds were fired on the 800 block of Crittenden St., NW:

Let me assure everyone that this weekends violence in Petworth will not be tolerated. Since Friday, based on a number of other indicators that led up to this violence, we have redirected a number of citywide resources to attempt to prevent and curb the violence in Petworth. I have citywide vice units, warrant squads, intelligence units, and many more officers teaming up to address this recent spike. We will not stop until the individuals responsible for these senseless acts are brought into custody. In addition to the citywide resources, Commander Brown is ensuring we maintain a saturation of Fourth District patrols in the neighborhood. We will get this under control.

I ask anyone with information on this violence to please contact use on 202-727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIME (2746).

The reference to “a number of other indicators that led up to this violence” certainly raises some questions about the nature of these incidents. I can say that there has been a visibly increased police presence in Petworth since Friday night, particularly near the crime scenes.

So far, no one from MPD has been able to comment on whether the three shootings we’ve reported are related, and if so, to what extent.

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According to a message that went out to the MPD-4D listserv this morning from Lt. James Cullen, there was a fatal shooting last night on the 4500 block of Georgia Ave. NW around 9:00 p.m:

On Saturday, Nov. 8th, officers responded to the front of 4506 Georgia Ave., NW, for a shooting victim at about 9:00 pm. A black male subject was found suffering from multiple gunshots. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. The 4500 block of Georgia Avenue will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic through some of the morning hours on Sunday so that evidence technicians can finish processing the scene.

Anyone with any information about this case is asked to call 1-888-919-CRIME.

This after two men were found shot on Friday night not too far away, near the corner of Marlboro Pl. and Taylor St., NW. According to the MPD, both of those victims were in local hospitals as of this morning: one in critical condition, and the other stable.

If and when more details about either of these incidents come in, we will keep you updated.

On my way home from the National Arboretum just now, I passed a pretty grisly scene: the convenience store on the corner of Rock Creek Church and Warder, NW, has been burnt to a crisp. To wit:

The proprietors still don’t know what caused the fire, which witnesses say began around 3 o’clock this morning. By the time I got there, they were explaining to their employees that there’d be jobs in the future–they just didn’t know when. The fire department expects to have an explanation by early next week. As for the owners…well, all one of them could tell me was that “shit happens.”

Indeed. In the meantime, does anybody have a clue as to what the hell happened here?

Yesterday, we blogged about the boundaries for the new “Shaw ShotSpotter” that actually covers parts of Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, U Street, Bloomingdale, Truxton Circle, and Park View. (Perhaps it graces the borders of lower Crestwood and lower Petworth, as well? D.C. has too many damn neighborhoods.)

Anyway, here’s the graphic version of the rough boundaries of the coverage area, as approved by Captain Michael Eldridge, who is overseeing the technology.

I’ve heard of all sorts of real estate blogs. Oh yes, there are blogs about Northern Virginia real estate, MoCo real estate, the real estate bubble. Housing blogs galore. But, an empty properties blog? Now, until this week, I had not heard about that. In my many months writing our weekly Buyers Market feature, I’ve talked to countless real estate agents. This week, one mentioned DC Vacant Properties to me. Given the context of our conversation, I can understand why this would pop into her brain.

This week’s property is a classic Petworth rowhouse. We’ve written about more than one of those. The concept of the feature—to, each week, focus on a new home that has undergone a significant price reduction from its original listing price—requires me to search out the sales that haven’t been too successful. But frankly, I’ve always wondered why the Petworth home prices plummeted to such lows. I mean the neighborhood has a Metro. It seems next in line to receive some attention and redevelopment (although we didn’t call it “Notyetworth” for nothing!) And even if it doesn’t get a surge of new businesses in the next couple of years, Columbia Heights is right next door, and that Target isn’t going anywhere.

So, what’s the deal? Read the rest of this entry »