D.C. police are looking for suspects in a series of armed robberies and a shooting along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor in Northwest Washington. “This is not something that we investigate ordinarily in this area, especially the shooting,” said Cmdr. Daniel Hickson of the criminal investigations unit.
The robberies and the shooting happened around Friendship Heights and the National Cathedral.
The first three crimes happened within 90 minutes of each other and initially went unreported, Hickson said. Police only learned about them about five hours after they occurred when the shooting victim walked into a Montgomery County hospital with a bullet wound to his chest, he said.
Around the same time, the victim of another robbery walked into the police station to report a robbery that turned out to have occurred about a block from the shooting. And it was during the investigation of these crimes that police learned of another robbery, that actually happened shortly before the other two.
Hickson urged people to come forward when they’ve been victims of crime, “especially if you’ve been shot in the chest.”
Police say the suspects were probably trolling the area for several hours and they believe someone may have seen something that could help with the investigation.
The first robbery occurred in the area of Wisconsin Avenue and Woodley Road NW. Thirty minutes after that, the robbers struck again, this time around 43rd and Jenifer streets NW. About an hour after that, the robbers pulled a gun on a man who refused to surrender his belongings, and he was shot. The robbers fled without the man’s money.
That didn’t deter the suspects. Five days later, on Thursday, at about 10:15 p.m., the same men are believed to have robbed another person in the 4100 block of Harrison Street NW.
In each robbery, two of the suspects were described as follows:
¥ Suspect One was a black male, between 5-feet-10 inches to 6-feet tall, stocky-chubby build, between the ages of 25 to 30, dreadlocks or braided hair style, dark complexion, wearing a white or light colored coat and dark pants.
¥ Suspect Two was a dark complexioned black male, about 5-feet-8 inches tall, medium-average build, 25 to 30 years old, unknown hair style, wearing dark clothing.
During one of the robberies a third suspect, described as a black male with a medium complexion, might have been involved. The suspects were believed to be traveling in a dark colored sedan, possibly green or black, with tinted windows.
Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099 or 888-919-CRIME (888-919-2746). D.C. police offer a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone that provides information that leads to a conviction.
Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to D.C. Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS and to the department’s text tip line by text messaging 50411.
