MPD Update on Recent Assaults in Bloomingdale by Group of Young Boys and Girls

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A week ago a reader shared the experience of her roommate being attacked by a group of teens in Bloomingdale. Apparently this was not an isolated incident. On the MPD-5D Listserve MPD Commander Solberg updated yesterday:

On Tuesday, March 19, at about 6:15 pm, we got a call that a group of young boys and girls were throwing items at a person near 2nd and W Sts., NW. We went but were unable to find a victim. While we were investigating this matter, we located a person in the 100 block of Adams St., NW, who said that a group of young boys and girls had used the steps to his basement apartment as a spot to gather, and when he told them to leave, they threw fruit at his window.

He did not want to make a report about this, but officers were able to canvass the immediate area and found a group of kids in the 2200 block of Flagler in a front yard of a house where they did not live. Some of the kids ran off, but we were able to stop and identify a young man, who lived nearby.

In the days after this event, residents made us aware of other similar incidents involving what seemed to us the same group of young kids.

We alerted all our 5D, and specifically the PSA 501 officers and supervisors, and we moved to put an end to all such activity.

Yesterday, Monday, March 25, officers in both the First and Fifth Districts got calls about a group of kids assaulting a woman near 2nd and Rhode Island Avenue, NW. Our 5D officers were on the scene of this event quickly, and we stopped a group of four women who we believed were involved. One of these girls was placed under arrest after being identified as one of the kids involved in the assault.

Three other girls were stopped and identified but not arrested.

All girls are 11, 12, or 13. All live in the 200 block of W St., NW, and two of the girls are sisters.

We expect that yesterday’s arrest will put an end to the behavior we have seen, but it is important for everyone to remember:

When an event such as this occurs, call 911 first, and explain things to the listserv second. The listserv is a great way to gather and disseminate information, but sometimes neighbors post messages to the listserv but forget to call 911 to alert us, and without that call, we may be unaware of the activity.

But this morning he updates again:

As we learn more about recent incidents in Bloomingdale, I and others are receiving other reports from other individuals who say that they have run into this same (apparently) group of young boys and girls in the neighborhood, and that they have been assaulted or threatened. It seems likely that not all events have been reported to us at the MPD.

I am therefore asking that if anyone has been a victim of any activity or knows about anything assaults or other activity committed in the area by groups of kids they get in touch with us.

Lieutenant Randy Griffin is the supervisor for all MPD efforts in PSA 501, and I ask that you use him as your point of contact if you have information we can use. His email address is included here.

I also was in contact last night with Cmdr. Jacob Kishter of the Third District, and he reports that in 3D there have been similar incidents. We will work together so that all MPD efforts have a centrally focused point of contact.

3D and 5D share a border along 2nd Street, NW, and in the Monday night incident where we stopped several young girls, we learned that they live in the 200 block of W Street, NW, which is in the Third District.

We remind everyone again to please call 911 to report any type of criminal or suspicious behavior so that we can take the appropriate steps.