WJLA has reported out this bizarre D.C. Police-involved shooting which took place on May 4 along the 1400 block of Shepherd Street NW. LaShawn English says at around 6 p.m. that day, the family dog escaped their house. Her 12-year-old son chased after the dog down an alley. He was carrying a toy pellet gun.

Bad idea.

The family suspects someone called the police. A D.C. cop arrived and drew his gun  on the boy. WJLA interviewed a witness as to what happened next:

"I can hear him say, 'Get down, get down, get down.' And then when he cuffed him and I came over here I said, Can't you see it? It's a toy.'"

Police say the dog then charged the officer who shot and wounded the animal. Marshall, however, disputes that account. "No, the dog did not charge. The dog came over in a crouching position," she said.

The mother told WJLA a bullet fragment struck the boy in the head and he was treated at the hospital; police deny the claim.

Read More "The Wackiest D.C. Police Shooting Ever" »

This weekend was all about crimes and Councilmember Jim Graham talking about crimes. There were shootings in Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, and Adams Morgan (that one involved D.C. Police), and a fatal shooting on 4th Street SE. Graham reported out the Mount Pleasant shooting for the listserv and bloggers everywhere. He's a better police spokesperson than the real police.

On Saturday, Colbert King stepped away from the juvenile crime beat to write about Fenty's ego. King thinks the mayor isn't so invincible. Why? The mayor's hubris may trip him up. King writes:

"The mayor out and about in the District of Columbia is not the candidate who captured all 142 precincts in the 2006 Democratic mayoral primary. There's a different man in office today. People seem to know it....

He's still quick with the smile and handshake, still good with names, still works the crowds, and makes all the photo ops. No D.C. government good deed gets announced without his presence.

But nowadays, something else comes with him when he shows up on the scene. There is a certain haughtiness in Fenty's bearing, a trace of scorn in his demeanor, a sense of self-importance that was not present (or at least was not noticeable) in him before."

Meanwhile, there were lesser crimes uncovered. I went to my first Nationals game of the season. When friends tried to buy the $10 tickets, they were told that they were all sold out. When we got inside the stadium---with the $20 tix---we couldn't help but notice plenty of empty seats in the 10-buck section. Conspiracy!

And then Maureen Dowd offered a very laughable excuse for plagiarizing TPM's Josh Marshall in her column.

Via Prince of Petworth: Councilmember Jim Graham couldn't help but speak out on last night's shooting in Mount Pleasant. A teen---apparently a 13-year-old---was shot in the ankle. Graham writes:

"I am told the boy did not live in the immediate area but may live elsewhere in Ward 1.

MPD tells me he will fully recover.

But now we have the allegation that there is a drug house operating at 1833 Monroe that has been reported to MPD. And further than the shots may have come from that vicinity."

Prince of Petworth--or at least a PoP reader--is reporting that there was a shooting in Mount Pleasant tonight (a little more than an hour ago). Apparently a teenager was shot in the leg on Monroe between 18th and 19th.

This follows Saturday morning's mayhem in Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan. The D.C. Police Department issued a press release concerning the police shootout in which a suspect was killed.

Release after the jump.

Read More "Shooting In Mount Pleasant" »

On Nov. 6, 2008, David Kerstetter was shot and killed inside his home by D.C. police officers. Despite the decision of the U.S. attorney's office not to prosecute the officers involved, Kerstetter's family has filed a notice with the District that it plans to sue the city over their son's death. The family's attorney, Douglas Sparks, notified Mayor Adrian Fenty in a letter dated May 1 [PDF].

We have written about the Kerstetter shooting here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here---not to mention the cover story linked above. The Sparks letter is based on the lawyer's interviews with witnesses, the autopsy report, and an exhaustive scene analysis. It provides the first counter-narrative to law enforcement's public account that Kerstetter had lunged at the officers with a knife---that Officer Frederick Friday shot and killed the Logan Circle resident in self defense. The new evidence appears to point to excessive force.

Read More "Breaking: David Kerstetter’s Family To Sue The District" »

Yesterday's massive water main break in Adams Morgan stressed out Monique Lecomte and Joseph Currie. They reside at 1748 V Street NW. Today, they are dealing with contractors assessing the damage to their basement dining room and kitchen. Industrial dehumidifiers are at full blast. A contractor rips at the bottom of the walls in the dining room. But perhaps nothing hurt Currie more than what the Washington Post did to him with its story on the great flood of '09. There are some things more painful than wall mold.

Read More "WaPo All Wet On Florida Ave. Flood Coverage" »

The D.C. Police Department is reporting that two men were recently killed in the District.

On May 3, 26-year-old Marvin Acosta-Arguet was found suffering from a fatal stab wound. The police report:

"At approximately 6:10 pm, on May 3, 2009, members assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fourth District and D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the 800 block of Crittenden Street, NW for the report of a stabbing. Upon arrival, they located 26-year-old Marvin Acosta-Argueta, of the 900 block of Decatur Street, NW, lying on the sidewalk and suffering from an apparent stab wound to the body. He was subsequently pronounced dead on the scene by a representative of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIM [E] (1-888-919-2746)."

Read More "D.C. Police Report Two More Homicides" »

The U.S. Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute Officer Frederick Friday for the shooting death of David Kerstetter in early November of last year. Friday had shot and killed Kerstetter in the Logan Circle resident's bathroom entrance. Friday, and his partner Officer Christian Glynn, had responded to the home after a report of an open door. Kerstetter suffered from a mental illness and had pleaded for the police to leave him alone. The police went in anyway to investigate. Officer Friday claimed Kerstetter came at him with a knife before he opened fire. Kerstetter was shot multiple times.

"We’ve closed it out," wrote  Channing Phillips, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office, an e-mail. "After a thorough review of the matter, we declined to bring charges after determining that it was a justifiable shooting.  We have since sent the matter back to MPD for whatever action it deems appropriate."

Phillips went on to state: "There was no evidence that the officer violated the law when he used deadly force in this case.  Beyond that, I can’t comment."

Today, Phillips wrote another e-mail explaining further the office's decision.

Read More "U.S. Attorney’s Office Declines To Prosecute Cop Shooter In Kerstetter Case" »

Earlier this week, I asked the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Office of Attorney General for a breakdown of the types of arrests made from this past weekend's All Hands On Deck initiative. The somewhat controversial program basically has the entire D.C. Police Department hitting city streets and, you know, fighting crime. Last weekend produced 377 arrests.

We heard reports that cyclists were getting ticketed. One colleague told me that his neighbor got stung with a drinking-in-public arrest. The evidence against him: an empty cup that at one point had booze in it. His case was tossed.

So what of 377 arrests were for real stuff? It appears that D.C. Police made a good amount of solid cases. You be the judge!

Read More "A Partial Breakdown Of All Hands On Deck Arrests" »

The D.C. Police have reported a fatal shooting took place on Wheeler Road SE early Tuesday morning. In a press release, the department writes:

"At approximately 12:08 am, on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, members assigned to the Department’s Seventh District responded to the 4300 block of Wheeler Road, SE for the report of the sounds of gunshots.  Upon arrival on the scene, officers located an adult male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.  He was subsequently transported by DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The decedent in this case is identified as 22-year-old Richard B. Robinson."

The D.C. Police announced the results of the latest All-Hands-On-Deck effort from this past weekend. Drum roll please....

According to the department: Police officers made 377 arrests, recovered six firearms and seized more than $7,000 worth of drugs.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier seems almost defensive in the press release. Her canned response: "This was a successful AHOD. Despite the fact that we had significant violent crime reductions last year and that we currently have the lowest number of homicides year to date since the early 1980s, I will continue my commitment to put more officers on the street."

If crime is really that low, why even bother with AHOD? And could we have a breakdown of those 377 arrests? How many of those arrests were actually papered by prosecutors?

The D.C. Police have re-launched its All-Hands-On-Deck program for the weekend. It started today at 6 a.m. So what does this mean? It means that every available officer will be on patrol. Cheap joke: Expect longer lines at 7-11! Cheap publicity: According to WJLA: "The initiative is a continuation of the initiative that began last year with five separate All Hands events. Taken together, the five policing drives in 2008 netted more than 2,300 arrests."

No details were given on the nature of those arrests. The FOP has called the initiative a drain on resources and a costly p.r. move. And Upset The Setup has questioned the program's effectiveness.

Yesterday, the Washington Post broke the news that the D.C. Police Department has gotten a p.r. firm to do a little pro bono work to help buff up its image. I was quoted in the story (I hope I wasn't too whiny) on a subject that should be familiar to loyal readers of City Desk: police stonewalling.

Read More "The Post: D.C. Police Way Behind On FOIAs" »

The other day Carl Kerstetter sent me the above picture of his son David with his medals from his military service which included a tour of duty during the first Gulf War. The picture shows what David was before his mental-illness reared up and took over much of his life. On November 6, he was shot and killed inside his Logan Circle home by D.C. Police Officer Frederick Friday. While the incident is still under investigation, my cover story on the subject raises many questions left unanswered.

I am using this new picture of David as an excuse to complain about the latest stonewalling on the part of the D.C. Police Department's press office.

A month after the shooting, I submitted a FOIA to the D.C. Police Department's spokesperson Traci Hughes. The FOIA was very simple. I asked for e-mails sent from a few police officials to the officials at the Department of Mental Health. My request gave a specific time frame and a specific subject matter to search. But after I sent my FOIA, I heard nothing back from police brass.

I waited. And then I waited some more.

Read More "Obvious Blog Post: D.C. Police Suck At FOIAs" »

On March 21, Erika Peters and her two young boys were found murdered in their Carver Terrace home at 2000 Maryland Avenue NE Apt. 104. Within hours, her live-in boyfriend Joseph Randolph Mays was charged with the fatal stabbings. This week I wrote a cover story about the tragedy and the several questions left unresolved. One of the big questions: What exact time was the 911 call made?

Peters' neighbors say the police arrived a lot earlier than 1 p.m. (the time listed on the police department's press release). Two government sources suggested the neighbors are correct. If this is true, it would mean the police took at least two hours to get inside the Peters' home.

I asked repeatedly for the exact time from various government officials. They all stonewalled me on this most basic fact. Attorney General Peter Nickles gave the reason most often used---the Peters case was an on-going case so that fact could not be made public.

I am still unsure why the exact time of the first 911 call would have any bearing on the case against Mays. The stonewalling was just unnecessary and unusually obnoxious even for government officials in the age of Fenty. I know people have a low tolerance for whiny journalists. But this is different. This issue goes to public safety and accountability.

Read More "Who Is Stonewalling On The Peters Case?" »