The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrested two 13-year-old boys for robbery, one of them accused of unarmed carjacking in relation to an incident that occurred last month.
The carjacking attempt by two teenage girls that led to the death of a Pakistani immigrant who was driving an UberEats vehicle on March 23 put a spotlight on the recent rise in carjackings involving minors in the District.
The two boys (of Southeast DC) were arrested on April 6 over stealing a pedestrian’s cell phone who was walking in the 200 block of Anacostia Road, Southeast DC in late March.
One of the arrested boys has additionally been charged with unarmed carjacking regarding a crime that took place on March 24, according to a release from MPD.
The carjacking happened in the 3300 block of Dubois Place, Southeast DC at approximately 4 pm. The suspects including the accused 13-year-old approached the victim who was sitting in his vehicle. They pulled the victim out, attacked him and ran away after stealing his car keys.
The group returned to the location at around 8:30 pm and stole the car, which was later recovered.
The case is still under investigation and more arrests are expected.
DC police arrested two teenage girls, aged 13 and 15, last month after they allegedly caused the death of Mohammad Anwar, a 66-year-old UberEats driver, while attempting to steal his car in the 1200 block of Van Street, Southeast on March 23. The girls reportedly assaulted the Virginia man with a taser and caused a rollover crash.
Anwar “was a hard-working Pakistani immigrant who came to the United States to create a better life for him and his family,” according to a GoFundMe page started to support the family of the deceased.
The teen girls have been charged with felony murder, carjacking and armed robbery.
Acting DC Police Chief Robert Contee said in an interview that charging the juveniles involved in the deadly incident as adults would not “bring back the lost loved one in this case.”
At least one minor has been arrested in 19 carjackings in 2021 so far in the District, MPD data reveals.
Overall, DC has seen a total of 101 carjackings this year, up from 22 incidents recorded during the same period of 2020.
DC Police Chief Says Teens in Deadly Carjacking Should Not Be Tried as Adults