It's a reversal of fortune. Dwight Harris was once scheduled to face a judge tomorrow morning for resisting arrest and drinking in public. But after video of two transit cops slamming the wheelchair-bound man to the ground outside the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro stop surfaced last month, all charges have been dropped, according to court records.

In fact, now it's the cops who arrested Harris who are in trouble.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has been investigating them, and Harris is planning to sue. Ann Marie Staudenmaier, an attorney with The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless who's "assisting" Harris, happened to be there (her office is located next to the Metro stop) a few moments after Harris was arrested. He lay bleeding on the sidewalk. She tried to help, telling cops they needed to do things like pick Harris up off the ground. "They just threatened to arrest me," she says.

Now that Harris is planning to file a lawsuit against Metro, she's hoping to help in a different way—by aiding him in his search for a good civil attorney. She hopes the task will be done by the end of the week. "They just stood there while he was bleeding," Staudenmaier says of transit cops. The officers have been placed on administrative leave. Metro won't comment on the altercation since the U.S. Attorney's "review of the matter remains ongoing."

Photo by man pikin Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0

DCist pointed to a disturbing video this weekend: A man in a wheelchair was tackled out of it by Metro Transit cops and arrested. The incident, which happened in broad daylight outside the U Street/Cardozo station on the Green and Yellow lines, attracted jeers and protests from bystanders and left the man bleeding. Metro responded to the video this morning:

On Thursday, May 19, the Metro Transit Police on routine patrol at the U St. Metrorail station observed a patron in a wheelchair drinking an alcoholic beverage. The officers asked the patron to leave the area and he refused. The officers then attempted to issue the patron a citation and when the patron refused to comply with the issuance of a citation he was told that he would be placed under arrest. The patron resisted arrest which resulted in him falling out of his wheelchair. The patron was arrested for assault on a police officer and drinking in public.

But in the video, the man isn't "falling out of his wheelchair." While it's obvious that he's struggling against the two officers, who both outweigh him, it's also obvious he was slammed to the ground as a result.

Reviewing the video, one Metropolitan Police Department officer who's made scores of arrest says he would have handled things differently. “I don't believe I would have gone that far. I don't believe I would've removed him from the wheelchair," says the cop.

The officer asks to remain anonymous because he doesn't have permission to speak about the incident. He points out that one way the cops could have avoided the controversial take down was by thinking things through. The suspect in the video looks as if he's in a motorized wheelchair, and "you can simply unplug those things from the battery," he says. Though that wouldn't have helped the suspect get into handcuffs, it would have taken the situation down a notch.

Another observation he makes is that the arrested man was left on the ground for too long. In the video, the officers don't seem to be making an effort to pick him up. That's something MPD avoids because of "positional asphyxiation," he says. A suspect can end up suffocating if they're left on the ground in the wrong position: "Our issue is that they need to get off the ground as soon as it's safe." The cop says that usually takes seconds. That a suspect was bleeding wouldn't make a difference.

But he also says it's hard to know all the particulars from a video. He wouldn't necessarily describe the transit cops' actions as heavy-handed. He says Metro's police force is trained differently and has different use-of-force guidelines: "Maybe they're learning it a different way."

Parking Fairies: From the Bloomingdale blog comes an announcement by a local resident who has convened a "parking focus group" because, "...CM Thomas and Dr. Johnson expressed that they wanted to empower members of the community to take charge and address some of the concerns and issues within their own communities. Parking was noted as one of the prevalent issues." Though the post contains no word on what kind of problems and solutions will be addressed at the upcoming April 7 community meeting with a DDOT official, a commenter is already concerned: "Why do you have to hate on the positive growth the community is showing? These businesses are building a stronger community – shouldn't you be proud to live in a community that has such fine neighborhood businesses?" Or, maybe this'll just be Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.'s chance to promote his fondness for Sunday morning angle parking.

Harbor Ferries: American River Taxi began its operation quietly last year, but Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could reports that the company could be making more of a splash during its 2011 season. Per its website, "Water Taxi stops include Georgetown / Washington Harbor Landing, The Wharf : Main Landing at Gangplank Marina, and The Yards / Nationals Stadium Landing (Diamond Teague Terminal). The travel time between stops ranges from 20 to 35 minutes, following the current government speed regulations on the river." Reportedly, more stops ("Old Town Alexandria, National Harbor, Poplar Point, and Reagan National Airport") will be added, too. If you're not excited, at least former DDOT director Gabe Klein is.

JBG, Sowing: The Washington Business Journal reports that developer JBG is boosting its investment portfolio in the U Street corridor by "assembling and bidding" for several historic buildings in the area. In response to the posting of the article on the U Street News email list, a resident says, "This will be interesting. Development on the Metro Parcels were stalemated up for about 4 years has CM Graham battled to pay-to-play the Metro sites to his team LaKritz-Alder and the Fenty administration to Banneker Development. Now we have JBG who has the muscle but little [track] record in non-downtown neighborhoods." This news complements last week's Housing Complex column, wherein "developer farms" were discussed as a good thing for neighborhoods.

Scurlockian: Left for LeDroit continues to explore the archives of photographer Addison Scurlock with jaunts into the neighborhood's past. Featured recently: 7th and T streets NW in 1939 and after the 1968 riots, and Ethical Pharmacy—which occupied the building that will host the forthcoming Shaw's Tavern.

When it comes to late-night weekend ridership, Metro's most popular stops are not surprising: Dupont Circle, U Street, and Gallery Place. (If that raw data's hard to grasp, Greater Greater Washington made this very handy graph.) While that's probably not all late-night revelers, all those stops are inside the District—so some District officials don't want to give Metro its $50 million in dedicated funding if late night service on the weekend is cut in order to save money, according to WTOP.

That itself could set off a whole chain reaction of funding problems. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are all supposed to chip in $50 million every year to keep Metro running. There's no telling what would happen if Metro were to lose all that funding—the $150 million pays for 42.4 percent of Metro's daily operations cost. Any recovery from a funding loss that extreme could involve even larger service cuts. Which is sort of a catch-22 for the transit agency.

Late-night businesses in D.C. could lose, too. Saturday night travel has been increasing far faster than ridership for the rail system overall. The number of people entering Metro after 7 p.m. on Saturdays has increased 142 percent between 1995 and 2010. In the same time period, commuter growth only increased 43 percent.

D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who's a new addition to the Metro board, has been against the proposal since the beginning. At a committee meeting in February, TBD reported he found the whole idea "foolish":

We're a world class city... To be a world-class city you have to support nightlife. We don't shut the lights off anymore at 5:30 in Washington. It does not make sense to believe Metro is merely for commuters.... We want conventions here, we want tourists to stay here. But it's more than that. It's [about] being taken seriously as a city that has nightlife.

Wells continued his argument at a hearing this Wednesday. "I am strongly opposed to cutting back the night hours of Metro," he said. "It would not only economically injure the District of Columbia substantially, but it would decrease our status as a major city in this country."

WTOP reports preliminary figures suggest weekend service on midnight could save Metro between $3 million and $5 million, as well as giving it an "8th Day" for track repair. That's a far cry from the $50 million they'd lose if the District follows through on its threat. (Not to mention the $7 million some estimate D.C. late-night businesses could lose if the cuts are approved.)

Though, hey—at least Metro General Manager Richard Sarles wouldn't have to worry anymore about drunk people riding Metro.

Photo by isuperwang via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

On Tuesday, I blogged in this space about how a new D.C.-Brooklyn discount bus line had a critical failure: a stop at Penn Station in Manhattan. Going through Manhattan sort of defeats the purpose of direct service. TBD followed up with an article on Wednesday and this morning, DCist chimed in. The local commentariat, along with forces in social media, too, expressed doubts and frustrations with the Manhattan stop.

Within 48 hours of me blogging my skepticism and social media communities stewing, the bus line decided to drop the Manhattan stop.

Success! Let a new era in East Coast travel begin! (The next question: Should theknowitexpress use the Goethals Bridge or the Outerbridge Crossing to go from New Jersey to Staten Island?)

Now, let's band together and banish the idea that this is a bus service for hipsters. If that were the case, the Brooklyn terminal would be somewhere in Bushwick or Williamsburg, not smack dab in the middle of Brownstone Brooklyn that's better known for double-wide strollers.

Shortly after his appearance before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Wednesday, despite having a somewhat slight build, Kamal "Commie" Jahanbein stubbornly rolls heavy metal kegs of German lager through a door that leads into his darkened establishment.

Moments ago, with the same stubbornness, he had told the board he wasn't interested in paying a $1,000 fine to the city just because he hadn't sold enough food items, like The Saloon's fried clam strips or urbock chili ("for an unusual experience," the menu says).

Jahanbein insists his business is a pub, and that pubs occupy a special place in the nightlife scene, as they're not quite eateries and not quite bars. But he also let them know that in the near future, his U Street business will technically be a tavern.

Looking sufficiently proletariat in a plaid shirt and brown corduroys, Jahanbein takes a break from unloading the lager to suck on a cigarette and explain the situation: "I've put in an application to change my license," he says. The owner hopes changing his liquor license from restaurant-class to tavern-class will get the ABC Board to leave him alone. The Saloon has been unable to meet a requirement that says spots designated as restaurants have to do at least 45 percent of their business in food sales.

The new license will cost $700 more a year to maintain. Jahanbein is willing to pay the extra cash. After he gets it, The Saloon won't change, he promises. Jahanbein has no intention of making the green-painted hangout with its stained glass light fixtures and exposed brick anything like a dark scummy bar. "I have a perfect, peaceful ambiance," he says. So things like the pub's no TV rule, for instance, will stand. Hopefully, such guarantees will keep local NIMBYs from protesting the conversion.

As for the $1,000 city lawyers want him to pay, he's not resisting because he's a tightwad. Jahanbein says he "has a mental problem" with giving the money to the city because of a sometimes-enforced regulation ("We've been here for 20 years," he says. "Where was the law 20 years ago?"). Instead of paying the fine, he says, he could use it house a family of five.

Jahanbein doesn't like to talk about it, and he doesn't really want City Desk to write about it, but he uses his business to fund a foundation that's built houses and clinics around the world. (As the signed bricks around the bar, and its annual summer breaks for Jahanbein to go work, attest.)

Besides, paying up to the District when he says he hasn't done anything wrong is against his philosophy. "If you work hard and you are good, there is no reason to take shit from anybody," he fumes.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Last week, Prince of Petworth relayed the news of a new bus service, the knowitExpress, between the District and New York City. But the terminal locations—U Street NW in D.C. and Park Slope in Brooklyn—are places not currently served by discount intercity bus service. And they're places to get excited about.

As Brooklyn365 notes, "this bus route may give hipsters from both DC and Brooklyn that ability to contemplate our nation's democracy while en-route." Or something like that. It will also feature free Wi-Fi and on-board bike storage, according to Brooklyn365.

The bus service will also have "a quick stop in Manhattan's Penn Station." Which is impossible—no stop at Penn Station is ever quick!

Hey knowitExpress, try this: U Street NW in the District and the Atlantic Avenue terminal in Brooklyn, and skip the stop at Penn Station in Manhattan. Travel time in and out of New York City would be reduced by skipping Manhattan. (Atlantic Avenue has direct or indirect access to 10 subway lines and the Long Island Railroad.)

Try that and you'll make most everyone happy. (And that might get me to choose the bus over Amtrak.)

Still, you run the risk of geese hitting your bus on the New Jersey Turnpike!

Photo by Wv235, from Wikimedia Commons

"The point being made in article after article is that last week's murder happened in the rapidly gentrifying part of the city. But we can't coffee-shop and bike-lane our way out of this tragedy. There are still numerous people in DC who have degenerated to the point of expressing dissent through murder and haven't learned to disagree without becoming violently disagreeable, no matter where they live. But my hope is that the people who use those coffee shops and bike lanes can and will be the change — if they care enough to do so...

We must demand accountability from our elected leaders, not just sound bites for the 6pm news. The last thing we need is another blue-ribbon panel/commission/taskforce/coffee klatch on how to the fix the problems plaguing our young people and ultimately our city. We need real action.

We need people who are really willing to look at our system and fix it, from how we educate our children to how we adjudicate them. The solutions to our public safety problems need to be enforceable and long-term. Blanket ideas like civil injunctions and curfews, that are not well thought-out, can't be the only solution."

With budget cuts and hiring freezes coming, there will surely be more Jamal Coates stories. The question is what does the city do with the resources it does have.

Coates' funeral is tomorrow at King Emmanuel at 11 a.m.

Jamal Coates

Jamal Coates once existed. That's something that everyone can agree on.

Everyone can also agree that due to tragic events that unfolded Tuesday afternoon, he no longer exists. Coates died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to cops. Family and friends will want to know why they lost their loved one. But the response authorities provide to that question may land somewhere between murky and obtuse. Because the thing is, one of the gangs rumored to be involved in the violence that, after a funeral, threw U Street into chaos and left Coates dead isn't supposed to exist.

The gang has been largely dispersed. At least, that's according to a campaign season boast by Councilmember Jim Graham. The Ward 1 politician contended that with the help of a police camera at 17th and Euclid streets Northewest, the Metropolitan Police Department had "scattered" what's known as the 1-7 crew. Graham was trying to put constituents at ease about a longstanding, bloody rivalry between the 1-7 Crew  and the G-Rod Crew (14th and Girard streets NW).

It's an aggravating assertion—seeing that the 17th and Euclid area has seen several shootings of late.

One of the shootings happened on June 27. Victor Chigoziri Mba-Jonas was shot on the 2500 block of 17th Street NW. A witness who was with Mba-Jonas when it happened told police the two were walking along 17th when two men hanging out there asked "What's up with ya'll?"

The men followed them and eventually started shooting. The gunfire occurred far enough away from 17th and Euclid not to be captured by the crime camera there. The device did get footage of the alleged shooters before and after the murder. Though the suspects had hung out at 17th and Euclid that night, arrest warrants said nothing about them being gang affiliated.

But court documents attached to a more recent killing definitely mention the supposedly hobbled 1-7. Sean Robinson was torn apart by gunfire on the night of Aug. 11 in the 1600 block of Euclid Street NW.

In  court papers related to the murder investigation, MPD Investigator Thomas Ellingsworth doesn't refer to the 1-7 as a bygone difficulty, but as a current problem. "Investigator Ellingsworth has knowledge that the '1-7 crew' and 'G-Rod Crew' have been and are currently 'beefing' with one another. Additionally, Investigator Ellingsworth was aware that the decedent was affiliated with the '1-7' Crew."

A former 1-7 member, though he was a good distance from Euclid, Coates may have fallen victim to the beef. Brandon Miller has been arrested in connection to his murder. Miller is of the 1200 block of Girard NW. That's not exactly 14th and Girard, but it's close enough to stir suspicions.

Contacted, Graham sticks by the notion that the 1-7 Crew has been pushed out of the area: "I mean, they have been largely dispersed."

"Not every last one of them," he says. "I mean, they could drive back." He says what's left of the crew has been pushed into Northeast. That's achievable, adds Graham, because African American crews like 1-7 aren't as large as Latino gangs like MS-13. "They vary in size but some are about a dozen," he says.

Adams Morgan has an artsy swagger, and gang violence would seem to derail its rep as a good place to indulge in the D.C. version of hipster culture. Maybe that's why Graham has been in denial. One police source tells City Desk that though gentrification and a heavy MPD presence have taken a toll on the 1-7 (there is less blight for them to hide behind), they're still going strong.

Photo courtesy of Bryan Weaver

Suspected Shooter: Authorities say they've arrested one of the men responsible for yesterday's broad daylight shooting outside a funeral on U Street. Brandon Miller, of Girard Street NW, was taken into custody late last night. Miller will be charged with the murder of Jamal Coates. Still at large, according to the Metropolitan Police Department: A car used to flee the scene of the attack, and possibly another suspect. Not surprisingly, MPD says the shooting was related to ongoing gang clashes, and had nothing to do with Ashley McRae, whose funeral was shot up. -5

Traffic Not So Jammed: Every year, the Texas Traffic Institute's Urban Mobility Report causes a lot of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments here in the D.C. region, when it declares congestion in the area is bad enough to rival that Chinese traffic jam. But a new study by CEOs for Cities says we're actually in better shape if you measure how much time people spend in their cars during peak driving times, ranked only 14th. Nashville ranks worst, mostly because of sprawl. Which means there are 13 cities with more sprawling suburbs than D.C.'s. Which is sort of scary. +2

Negative Growth: The recession may be officially over. But Almost Mayor Vincent Gray tells local business leaders D.C. may as well be in a depression. Gray probably is feeling a little depressed, ever since new budget projections came out showing the District will have a $175 million shortfall in the fiscal year beginning Friday. By Nov. 2, will he still want the job he spent the last few months beating Adrian Fenty for? -3

Special Sausage Delivery: Forget about the healthy, local vegetables that typically fill community-supported agriculture boxes—why eat that green stuff when you can have pork instead? Seasonal Pantry is starting a sausage club that promises 6 pounds of meat for $50 in October. The bad news: You've got to go pick the links up yourself, rather than having them arrive at your house. The good news: That little bit of exercise will help keep your arteries clear. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 46 Today's score: -4 Today's Needle rating: 42

In addition to a corpse, cops found a man with a gunshot wound to the shoulder inside the upended SUV near 11th and U streets NW. He was taken to the hospital with "non-life-threatening" injuries. So far, authorities know of only one bystander hurt in the incident, a Verizon employee parked in a company van near where the SUV lost control. Police said his injuries are "not serious."

MPD is on the lookout for an old, light-colored car, possibly a Crown Victoria, that might have been used in the shooting or the getaway. Officers on the scene could give no further information about the make or model.

Nobody has yet been taken into custody.

Metropolitan Police Department officials say one man was found dead in the SUV, and two other shooting victims were taken to area hospitals.

Once the shots were fired, most of the mourners at the funeral ran. Others were left stranded on T Street, as many had parked along the  blocked off sections of U Street. The scene near the shooting was chaotic afterwards. Residents, employees of nearby businesses, and people from the funeral milled around as police began an investigation. The crowd hovered along a stretch of police tape, trying catch a glimpse of the upended SUV.

Near 12th and T, a throng of distraught funeral-goers gathered, trying to make sense of the onslaught of tragedies. Among this group were McRae's cousins and friends. McRae, who lived in Columbia Heights, was found dead last weekend near Fort Stanton Park; days later, Damon Antonio Sams, 22, was charged with second-degree murder. A friend of McRae's, Antonio Bryant, sounded angry, both about McRae's death and the shooting today. "I guess this is just life on U Street," he said.

MPD don't believe the drive-by shooting was a retaliation for McRae's death. But the crowd at the funeral seemed to know exactly who was responsible.

Watch video from the scene here:

Dallas Sucks: Redskins beat Cowboys, 13-7, at FedEx Field, thanks mostly to Dallas penalties and fumbles that would get a kid benched in Pop Warner games. One game in, Mike Shanahan's crew already has 25 percent of the victories that Jim Zorn's team managed last year. Sadly, Dan Snyder still owns the team, which puts natural limits on any fan's optimism. But hey, we're undefeated! +4

What's In Your Wallet?: One of the D.C. area's best-known brands, Chevy Chase Bank, is gobbled up once and for all by Capital One, the subprime credit card behemoth that purchased Chevy Chase last year. Bank branches that closed on Friday as Chevy Chase outposts opened today as Capital One. Non-natives of the region used to sometimes wonder how that comedian from Saturday Night Live got his own bank, but in its day, Chevy Chase was as much a fixture in many Washingtonians' daily commerce as Giant Food (now owned by a Dutch multinational), Hechinger (gone under) or Hot Shoppes (now just another defunct brand owned by Marriott). Note: This item has now used up the entire year's quota of nostalgia for one large, rich corporation that's been acquired by another. -3

Metro Ready for U Street Sale: When Metro dug the Green Line along U Street in the 1990s, the construction project nearly killed commercial life on the corridor. Apparently, in the process, the transit agency got hold of 28,000 square feet near the south entrance to the U Street/Cardozo stop, which officials now plan to sell through a competitive bidding process. Developer LaKritz Adler has already submitted a plan for a hotel and conference center to serve nearby Howard University. Presumably, the proposal includes requirements that escalators break down at random intervals in order to make it fit in better with Metro's existing service. +2

The Dismemberment Plan is Reunited: Hometown faves the Dismemberment Plan last played together three years ago at a City Paper-sponsored two-night stand at the Black Cat, but otherwise the band has been quiet since breaking up in 2003. Well, no longer must you do the standing still: The group is reuniting for five shows this January. If you lived in D.C. between the mid-‘90s and the early oughts and fall into a certain demographic—that’d be the genre-hopping, R&B-loving, hard-dancing indie-spazz set—then you know no band puts on a live show as ecstatic as D-Plan’s. The reunion begs two questions: How quickly will the shows—Jan. 21 at the Black Cat, Jan. 22 at 9:30 Club—sell out? (Black Cat tix go on sale Friday.) And will frontman Travis Morrison still be wearing the same sweat-soaked button-down shirt he’s donned for shows since time immemorial? The answers: within minutes, and no doubt. +3

Friday's Needle rating: 51 Today's score: +6 Today's Needle rating: 57

According to a D.C. WASA spokeswoman, the break was the result of a 12-inch coupling that popped off after crews had performed a routine valve replacement the night before. Water had already been shut off for much of the morning, but when water pressure returned around noon, the valve malfunctioned, causing the coupling to break. Businesses on the east side of 18^th Street between Florida Avenue and Columbia Road were forced to close early or endure expansive lakes of water.

Niel Piferoen, owner of the Belgian café and restaurant Locolat, bemoaned the lack of water for severely limiting his menu options.

“There’s only a limited service that you can do [without water],” said Piferoen. “You couldn’t sell any coffee, you couldn’t sell any tea; the only thing you could do was sell beer and wine. You can’t even do any food because you can’t do any dishes.”

An employee at Duccini’s Pizza, an establishment across the street, echoed Piferoen.

“The police and fire department blocked all the [streets], so there is no walking,” said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous. “So even if you work in the store, you can’t come in or drive, so everybody’s in. We had a few orders that we couldn’t deliver. There was not even carryout.”

Some business owners, however, did not lose water, despite their proximity to the break. For example, El Tamarindo, a Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant across the sidewalk from the spewing water main, was fine—underscoring D.C.’s occasionally perplexing water system.

“We never had our water shut off, but the sidewalk in front of us was closed off, and there was water spewing everywhere, so it wasn’t very attractive,” said El Tamarindo owner Javier Reyes, whose daughter translated from Spanish. “Customers thought it was closed because we didn’t have water, so it did affect the business.”

The break was fixed by 1 a.m. this morning, but WASA has informed City Desk that there have been reports of water damage on the 1700 block of U Street, the severity of which is still unknown.