Two men will appear in court today to face formal charges in the beating death of a prominent New York Times journalist and the muggings of two others, including a retired police officer.
Percey “Master P” Jordan and Michael Hamlin have been in custody on murder charges since January, after they were accused of mugging retired Times editor David Rosenbaum and leaving him for dead near his upper Northwest home.
But an indictment, unsealed early this week, also formally charges both men with conspiracy and another mugging that occurred on the same night Rosenbaum was attacked.
According to charging documents, cousins Jordan and Hamlin also went into Silver Spring on Jan. 6, surrounded Marian Dirda and took her credit cards and cell phone.
The men have also been indicted in the mugging of retired police officer James Rose, 72, on Nov. 17. The pair allegedly took Rose’s cell phone and called relatives and friends.
D.C. police have been roundly criticized for their handling of Rose’s mugging, with accusations that leads that might have led to the pair were left unchecked.
Rosenbaum, 63, clung to life for two days after his Jan. 6 mugging but finally succumbed to his injuries.
An ambulance was several minutes in getting to him in part because responding emergency personnel assumed he was drunk. An inspector general’s report on the ambulance response was released to the D.C. Council and city leaders Thursday evening and will be posted online today.
