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Sidewalk, 1999

In the last couple of months, Dupont Circle activist Rob Halligan counted 17 home invasions in his neighborhood where the robber got in via the roof, typically through a skylight. He worked the Listservs and his cop sources to get this problem on the radar of both MPD and homeowners. Tonight is the first public meeting for them to get the word out on the rooftop burglar(s)' M.O.

The meeting at 1719 Swann St. at 7 p.m. (in Peggy Simpson's "very large" living room) will presumably include details that have been missing from MPD---like how the robber(s) are prying open the skylights. So far, cops have said thieves are getting up there using fire escapes and other wrought-iron ladders on the sides of buildings. Shocking, that.

BREAKING: Police are blanketing Petworth after an armed carjacking in the 300 block of Taylor St. NW. The perpetrator, a 5'8" black male dressed in running gear and a ski mask, commandeered the car at approximately 7:50 p.m. and fired on three cops at 7:55, hitting no one. A low-flying helicopter equipped with a searchlight is keeping a tight perimeter around the neighborhood. Residents are being asked to remain in their houses and to report any suspicious behavior to the police.

Further bulletins forthcoming.

UPDATE ~10:50 p.m.: Officer Peterson at the D.C. Police Public Information Office reports that the suspect's still at large. "He's still out there," Peterson said. "He got away."

More details on the shooting: After jacking the car—a Ford Escape—the perpetrator drove north before encountering three officers at 3rd and Upshur Streets NW. "He took a couple potshots at them," Peterson said. No one was injured. Police have recovered the car, which the culprit ditched to proceed on foot.

UPDATE ~12:01 p.m. 2/13/09: Officer Kenny Bryson at the D.C. PIO confirms that the shooting happened at 3rd and Taylor NW, not NE. This morning's Washington Post mistakenly identifies the 300 block of Taylor St. NE as the site of the carjacking.

More as it comes.

The New York Police Department recently announced a significant change in how its rank and file deal with mentally-ill citizens. The NYPD has started an alert system focused on people who are mentally ill. According to a Newsday story:

"The New York Police Department has a new alert system that lets officers know if they are responding to locations where police have previously been sent to deal with the mentally ill, an initiative sparked by the fatal 2007 shooting of a man who confronted officers with a broken wine bottle."

The 2007 incident should appear familiar to District residents. The police recently shot and killed a resident in crisis who allegedly was holding a knife. David Kerstetter was shot and killed on Nov. 6. The events that led up to his death remain under investigation. The D.C. Police Department has steadfastly insisted that it doesn't need to change how it deals with mentally-ill residents.

The NYPD thought differently.

Read More "NYC Police Change How They Confront Mentally-Ill Residents" »

Good morning, City Desk readers. I hope you all had a happy [insert holiday here].  My household celebrated the day by lounging around in tall tees, eating ice cream out of the carton, and watching the entire fourth season of Weeds (OMG! The ending so totally threw me off. Deets later--don't want to spoil the show for n00bz!)

And now some news:

• New Columbia Heights reports on a new gang cruising 14th St. called the "Whipsters"--not what you think, trust me. (Unless the first thing that came to your mind was a variation on "hipsters," in which case you're kind of right.) The Whipsters have open membership on Facebook! (Keep your eyes open for gang signs painted in raw breast milk and crushed berries from local berry collectives.)
• On Dec. 15, Christmas Eve (aka, Dec. 24) developers broke ground for the new Anacostia library. And Now, Anacostia has more info and some floor plans.
• The folks at Congress Heights on the Rise have the final 2008 numbers from the MPD's All Hands on Deck initiative: "MPD officers made 462 arrests, recovered nine firearms, and seized $35,925 worth of drugs. All five AHOD’s netted more than 2,300 arrests. Overall, assaults involving a gun are down 13 percent and robberies committed with the use of a gun are down 12 percent compared to this time last year."

$35k worth of drugs yet only nine illegal firearms? Ya'll know what that means, dontcha? The price of pot is going up, up, up! So much for catching an after-Christmas fire sale on qp's of purple haze...

Btw: Every single one of those 2,300 arrests that was drug-related translates to an adult, teen, or pre-teen, who--for the rest of his or her life--will be ineligible to receive federal financial aid for higher education. Two thumbs up, Cathy Lanier, for perpetuating the urban-poverty cycle!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user indi.ca

A belated kudos to the Washington Post editorial page, for nailing a thoroughly reported editorial-cum-investigative piece on the DeOnte Rawlings situation. Though we've already cited the piece in our fabulous Loose Lips Daily, a more complete breakdown is in order.

Rawlings, 14, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer on Sept. 17, 2007. Subsequent investigations by the U.S. attorney's office and the police department have concluded that the officer, and another off-duty police official, broke no laws or departmental rules. They returned to their jobs.

The Post editorial concerns itself with the city's handling of the case, a response characterized by secrecy; details of the investigations have not been released to the public. Here are some of the shocking-but-then-again-not-so-shocking revelations in the Post editorial:

---James Haskel, the officer who shot Rawlings, pursued the youth after he found a minibike missing from his garage. Haskel and another officer spotted Rawlings riding it and testify that Rawlings shot at them. So Haskel fired back, hitting Rawlings with a fatal shot to the head. Though the U.S. attorney's office exonerated the officer, the Post points to some holes in the case: "No gun was ever found, the minibike went mysteriously missing and the officers, who at the time did not identify themselves as police, left the scene -- issues that have never been adequately addressed."

Read More "DeOnte Rawlings in Mid-Morning Blog Post" »

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.

Read More "Evidence in Spevak Case Found at 622 Ingraham" »

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.

Read More "Double Homicide in 5300 Block of Belt Road, NW; Victims’ Car Torched in Petworth" »

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.

A few minutes after 11 p.m. tonight, a young woman was shot in the 700 block of Decatur Street, NW.

The victim sustained injuries to her left arm and is not in in critical condition, police say. She is seventeen years old.

Police tape also demarcated a house at the intersection of 7th and Emerson Streets to which the victim fled after being attacked.

By the time we arrived, an ambulance was on the scene. By the time we left, cops were pulling down yellow tape on Emerson while their colleagues three blocks south scoured the ground for overlooked shells.

The shots I could hear from my porch nearly a mile away.

We'll do our best to keep you in the loop.

Photograph of Decatur St. & Illinois Ave. by Mike Riggs

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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.