A few weeks ago, US Marines helped DC police catch two would-be moped jackers, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Captain Adam Crist told a public meeting July 8.
According to the police report, around 10 a.m. June 13, a group of delivery drivers were waiting for orders, sitting on their mopeds near the corner of Ninth and G Streets SE.
They watched a man walk around the block a few times. Shortly afterward, the man walked up to them, pointing a gun at one of the drivers. The others “began to panic,” the report narrates, with at least two jumping into defend the victim.
A group of about 15 mopeds chased two people fleeing on foot, a short chase ending around Ninth and E Streets SE.
It turned into a fight between the two parties, and the larger group significantly overpowered the pair on foot, said Captain Lauri Schleicher, US Marine Corps (USMC) COMMSTRAT, Director at MBW.
During the melée, a suspect attempted to pistol whip the victim. The gun’s magazine broke and spilled ammunition all over the ground, police said.
Meanwhile, Marine Barracks Washington (MBW) Guard Marine monitoring security cameras observed the chase as it entered their camera range, Schleircher noted. The altercation happened out of a direct line of sight from the nearest guard post, she noted. But Marines could tell there was trouble.
“It was quickly assessed that there was an imminent threat to life, limb, or eyesight of the individuals involved in the altercation,” Schleicher said. “In accordance with Guard Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), the nearest Guard Marines were notified and responded to the scene.”
When the Marine got to the fight, the guard attempted to de-escalate the situation using verbal commands. When that didn’t work, the Marine drew his Taser “as outlined in the Guard’s de-escalation protocol,” Schleicher said.
As all of this was happening, the Marine saw what he thought must be a potentially deadly weapon in the hand of one man. The Marine transitioned from his Taser to his M18 service pistol, following SOP.
As the Marine approached, the group began to disperse. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrived on scene shortly thereafter to handle the situation and fully disperse the crowd.
“They were definitely able to hit us up with the good assist with that one,” Crist said of the Marines.
Crist told Advisory Neighborhood Commission ANC) 6B that moped and scooter jackings present unique challenges. “They’re easy to get away,” Crist said, since the small vehicles can use side streets and sidewalks for their escape. Not all are tagged, he added, making individual vehicles harder to clearly identify on nearby streets.
“There’s also usually a delay in reporting, if they get reported to us at all,” Crist continued, noting that the current political climate surrounding immigration means that some of these folks may not want to have an interaction with police. There are sometimes language barriers, creating a lag between crime and investigation as officers wait for a translator.
This this the reason why delivery drivers on mopeds will congregate together in large groups, Crist added. “They feel like there’s some safety in numbers,” he told ANC 6B. “And that kind of played into this instance here.” All of sudden, he said, a group went after this suspect and they were stopped –with the help of the Marines.
Officers arrested one man for attempted robbery while armed.
