A man violently assaulted two women within a twenty-minute span on the Hill late Friday, March 6, between 10:45 and 11:03 p.m. Police are trying to identify the suspect, who was captured on neighborhood video cameras.
First District Commander Morgan Kane asks the community to remain situationally aware as officers aggressively work to bring these cases to closure.
“All of the First District are looking for this suspect,” Kane said. “It was violent and we want nothing more than to capture him quickly.”
Neighbors who witnessed the second attack say that while termed a robbery by police, it was an extremely violent assault.
At around 11:03 p.m. March 6, a woman was walking northbound on Seventh Street SE, just past the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (522 Seventh St. SE).
According to witnesses, a man came up from behind her and struck her on the side of the face, dropping her to the ground over a low fence on the church’s property. Grabbing the victim by her backpack, the man threw her to the ground striking her face repeatedly.
Hearing the victim’s screams, neighbors came outside to help. One of them chased the attacker for twenty yards to no avail. The victim did not know her attacker.
Retrieving the victim’s water bottle while waiting for police, a neighbor found a wallet. It belonged to another woman who had been assaulted earlier that evening on D Street NE.
The first victim was walking on the 800 block of D Street NE around 10:45 p.m. An unknown man ran up behind and beat her up. He fled with her black purse, containing a laptop and wallet, heading southbound.
The wallet appears to tie together two similar assaults on opposite ends of the Hill within a short time frame.
In a March 11 press release, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) classified the two crimes as ‘robberies’. The two are being investigated as potentially related, MPD stated.
Neighbors doubt that robbery was a prime motivator. The man could have robbed her and left at any time, they told the Hill Rag.
“He was intent on just beating her, just inflicting violence on the woman,” said one witness. MPD officers found the second victim badly beaten and bleeding profusely from her face, neighbors added.
Police are looking for a black male, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet in height, medium build, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a hat. Both crimes were captured by neighborhood surveillance cameras. The video from the Seventh Street SE incident can be seen at the top of this article. Footage from the D Street NE event can be seen below.
Both victims were badly beaten, especially around the face, with broken noses, cut-up mouths and damage to eye sockets, officers told neighbors.
Anyone with information or video that may be relevant, please the First District Detectives office at (202) 299-2025, or the Metropolitan Police Department’s Command Information Center at (202) 727-9099. Alternatively, information can be forwarded to investigators by ing the Metropolitan Police Department’s Command Information Center at (202) 727-9099 or the Text Tip Line by texting 50411.
Crime Solvers of Washington DC currently offers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in the District of Columbia.
This story has been updated to reflect comments from the First District Commander.
