Arrest Made in the Homicide and Bashings in Petworth

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Dear PoPville,

There was another attack of a woman last night on Gallatin that no one seems to be reporting. The suspect was seen in the middle of the act of hitting the woman on the back of the head while the police drove by. The suspect saw the police and took off down Illinois towards Sherman circle and they caught the suspect on Illinois. Could be the same suspect connected to the other brutal attacks. I find it surprising that I can’t find any reports on this latest attack but it happened a block from my house last night and an officer told me what happened. Have you heard anything?

I’m hearing that this is the same guy! MPD has scheduled a press briefing for 10am. I’ll update at that time.

Update 10:06am from MPD Chief Cathy Lanier:

Following a series of assaults in the Petworth neighborhood in the past 72 hours, we deployed several teams of undercover officers to the area. Last night at approximately 9:00 PM, members assigned to our Narcotics and Special Investigations Division, Strike Force was patrolling in the 800 block of Gallatin Street Northwest when they heard someone yelling for help. They observed a female on the ground suffering obvious injury to the head. As they approached the victim they observe a subject a short distance away in the alley, holding a dark colored bag. As the officers made eye contact with the subject, he began running and was pursued by the officers. During the pursuit, the officers observe the subject discard the backpack. The pursuit continued to the 4800 block of Illinois Avenue where the suspect was apprehended.

A claw hammer, believed at this time to be the weapon used in the assault was recovered from the back pack discarded by the suspect.

The suspect has been identified as 19 year old Michael Davis of the 900 block of Emerson Street, NW. At this time he has been charged with one count of aggravated assault.

The victim in this case, who is not being identified, is a 19 year old female. She has suffered a serious head injury and remains hospitalized.

At this time, we are continuing to investigate and process evidence to determine if this case may be linked to the prior three cases that occurred in the Petworth neighborhood over the past 72 hours.

It goes without saying, we are extremely proud of the officers and detectives involved in this apprehension. They have certainly demonstrated their commitment to the safety of our community and the mission of the Metropolitan Police Department.