Man arrested in Southeast sex assault
D.C. police have arrested a man in connection with a sex crime that happened earlier this month.
June A. Branch, 21, of Southeast Washington, was arrested Monday morning and charged with first-degree sexual assault while armed and robbery while armed, police said.
The charges stem from a July 12 incident that occurred on the 1900 block of 18th Street. A woman told police that she was walking down 18th Street at about 4:50 a.m. when a man approached her, pulled out a gun and demanded money, police said.
After the woman gave the man money, she told police, he assaulted her. The man then forced the woman to withdraw cash from an ATM, police said.
Prosecutors oppose court-ordered psych evaluation for Pentagon shooter
Prosecutors are opposing a motion for a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation for a former Marine who admitted to shooting at the Pentagon and other military facilities in Northern Virginia.
Yonathan Melaku pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria in January and agreed to a prison sentence of 25 years.
In October and November of 2010, Melaku shot at the Pentagon, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, a Marine Corps recruiting substation in Chantilly and a Coast Guard recruiting office in Woodbridge. He was taken into custody in June 2011, when he was found on the property of Arlington National Cemetery, according to court documents.
Earlier this month, Melaku’s lawyers filed a motion requesting a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation. A psychiatrist that they retained found Melaku suffers from schizophrenia.
In the prosecutors’ response, they argue the motion should be denied because Melaku’s lawyers’ expert found that the defendant was competent to understand the proceedings against him and assist in his defense. Prosecutors asked the judge to recommend that Melaku serve his sentence at a Bureau of Prisons facility where he can get any necessary treatment, as opposed to being hospitalized in lieu of imprisonment.
