Columbia Heights

3400 block of 14th Street, NW

“Dear PoPville,

Four robberies in the Columbia Heights area may be linked.

Fran’s Hair Salon (14th and Ogden Street) was robbed at gunpoint in late July by two African-American males @5pm on a Thursday.
A tailor in the same area was bound, beaten and robbed in his place of business.
Miss Hair Braiding Salon (14th and Meridian Place, across the street) was robbed at gunpoint by an African-American female Thursday August 21 at @5pm.
A general store next to Bacon Funeral home (also on 14th Street near Meridian) was robbed by two African-American males on @5pm Saturday August 23. A woman who worked in the store was attacked and injured and taken away by ambulance. Store owners believe all robberies are related and involve all the same group of people.

While police have become involved, no arrests have been made or any leads established. Store owners in the area believe the robberies will continue until this group is caught.

The common denominator for all the locations is that they occurred during or near the weekend, @5pm, within a city block of each other, and involved stores that would have cash on hand at the end of the day.

Leads on the identity of this group are being sought, and someone may have important information regarding these robberies. Also, the general public needs to be alerted for the sake of safety (particularly with autumn and winter coming).”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Becky Miskell

“Dear PoPville,

My purse was snatched, with my new iPhone 5s in it, at the corner of 14th and Rhode Island, NW last night [Ed. Note: Last week]. I filed a report with the police last night, however we know that will lead nowhere. It’s become clear today that there’s some sort of purse snatching scheme going on. I’ve heard from a woman on a burner phone (we traced the number) that claims her boyfriend found my phone but is hesitant to drop it at a neutral location for fear of getting “set up”. The woman was supposed to call me back in “20 minutes” after checking back in with her boyfriend – that was about an hour and a half ago. I could start stalking the burner number, hope the ultimate phone ransom isn’t too steep, and have the police follow me to the phone’s location. Or I could forget it and go spend another $600 on a new phone (I just bought it!).

My question: I’m sure I’m not the first. Is this a lost cause or is there some sort of tip to get my phone back?”

From MPD:

“The Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying and locating a person of interest in connection to a robbery which occurred in the 3300 block of 14th Street, NW, on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at approximately 9:35 am.

The subject is described as a black male, in his late 30’s to 40’s, approximately 5’8” in height, wearing dark sun­glasses, a blue and white hat, and a blue and white striped shirt. The subject can be seen above.

Anyone with information that can assist in the identification of this subject is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.”

Yesterday @bbarbot tweeted us:

“Another day, another robbery at the Wells Fargo in Tivoli. Oh CoHeights, just stop it.”