200+ Carjackings in DC Area, Dozens of Juveniles Arrested So Far This Year

The Washington, D.C. region has been plagued by a crime they have yet to get a handle on in 2021: violent carjackings.

The most recent police data reveals 207 carjackings have been reported in D.C. and the surrounding counties between January and April of 2021. In 2020, there were 60 during the same period.

The hotspots are Prince George’s County and the District.

There have been 70 carjackings called into Prince George’s County Police Department between January and mid-March alone. {snip}

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D.C. Police Department is dealing with a bigger problem when it comes to carjackings.

More than 107 people have been carjacked. Police have arrested 44 people and 34 of the suspects are under the age of 18. Based on police reports, some of the suspected carjackers have been as young as 12 years old.

“That’s just what they like to do,” Acting D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said when talking about some of the suspects. “They just do it. They enjoy committing crimes.”

Some juveniles have engaged in this crime for not only the thrill but to brag about their conquests on social media, Contee said.

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In many cases, Contee said the same child is accused of committing multiple carjackings.

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Contee said it’s also clear, some of the young suspects are not aware of the consequences and long-lasting impact on the victims.

WUSA9 recently spoke with a woman who, in 2018, lived in D.C., but later moved to Prince George’s County after an attempted carjacking when she arrived home one evening.

PhiXavier Holmes said in the fall of 2018, she dodged two bullets in one day. She was in an early morning car accident and walked away unscathed. She returned home that evening in a rental car, achy, annoyed and with a gun in her face.

“He was like, ‘B, give me the keys to the car’ and I was like, ‘wait, what?’ I respond back, fight or flight and I fought. It was at that moment I began to scream and yell. At that time, he began to tug at the keys that were on my finger,” Holmes explained. “I could die, for real, for real. I’m like in mass hysteria.”

Holmes said one suspect, who appeared to be a teen, ran off with one set of her keys and yelled, ‘I’m coming back, I’m not done,’” she described.

“I lived in fear for quite some time,” Holmes said. “I’m still dealing with it, honestly speaking.”

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