First D.C. homicide of 2010
A man was stabbed to death in the Southeast D.C. community of Congress Park on Saturday night — the first homicide of 2010 in the nation’s capital, police said. Terrance Dominic Brooks, 44, of Southeast was arrested Sunday on suspicion of killing Zachary Funke, 22, of Frederick. Brooks was charged with second-degree murder while armed. The incident occurred shortly after 11 p.m. on the 1700 block of Mississippi Avenue SE. Funke, stabbed in the chest, was transported to United Medical Center and later pronounced dead. D.C. recorded 143 homicides in 2009, its fewest in four decades, but five came during a particularly violent New Year’s Eve.
Fairfax firefighter injured
A Fairfax County firefighter suffered burns to his ears while battling a two-alarm blaze Sunday at a home near Fort Belvoir. Capt. Dave Tobin, Fairfax fire spokesman, said the fire broke out about 12:35 p.m. in the basement of a two-story home on the 7900 block of Telegraph Road. The firefighter was taken to the Washington Hospital Center’s Burn Center, while an elderly woman, an occupant of the home, was assessed for breathing difficulty. The basement was a total loss, Tobin said, but the rest of the house suffered only smoke and water damage.
Police on lookout for taxi robbers
D.C. police detectives are looking for two men who they believe robbed four taxicab drivers during December. The four robberies occurred in Northeast Washington, two on Jackson Street and two on Hamlin Street, between midnight and 5 a.m. Dec. 16, 18, 22 and 29. In all four cases, the men hailed a cab in the area of 14th and Irving streets Northwest. When the cabtook them to the requested destination in Northeast, the passengers implied they had a gun and demanded money, car keys and a cell phone from the driver. The men fled on foot, and the robbery victims were not injured. The first robber is a dark-complexioned black man, 18 to 24 years old, weighing 150 to 170 pounds. The second is a light-complexioned black man believed to speak with a foreign accent, weighing about 200 pounds and wearing a brown coat. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099. Police are offering a reward of up to $5,000.
– Compiled by Michael Neibauer
