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'Something needs to be done' | Armed carjacking of mother and infant leave NE community on edge

Police are searching for a 2014 white two door Mercedes Benz C250 that was carjacked in Northeast Wednesday evening.

WASHINGTON — Detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Carjacking Task Force are asking for help to find a suspect and a car that was carjacked Wednesday evening near the intersection for 4th and H Street in Northeast.

According to MPD, a woman and her 11-month-old infant were sitting in a parked 2014 white two door Mercedes Benz when a man with a knife opened the car door and demanded she get out.

The police report said the man wouldn't let the mother get her baby out of the backseat and threatened to stab her if she kept screaming. That's when he took off with both of them in the car, investigators say.

MPD says the suspect is wanted for both armed kidnapping and carjacking.

A woman who was inside her home at the time of the carjacking spoke to WUSA9 about hearing a loud scream and then watching "the worst nightmare" unfold in her neighborhood. 

“I was upstairs and I heard this screaming at the top of the lungs, I had my window open, so I came running down and came outside and the car had taken off down the street with this woman screaming and screaming,” the woman, who identified herself as Barbara (and asked not to use her last name), told WUSA9. "You know it’s how you would scream if something were happening to your child."

RELATED: Unconnected carjackings leave mother, child scared and another car up in flames

Eventually, police said the thief dropped the woman and her baby off but took off with the car.

Credit: MPD
The victim’s vehicle is a 2014 white 2 door Mercedes Benz C250 and was last seen bearing a Maryland tag of 2CT0713.

On Saturday, police released a photo of the suspect in this case, who was captured on surveillance video.

Credit: MPD

“We’ve been hearing a lot about carjackings. It just seems to be there’s a spree of them,” Barbara said.

The statistics surrounding carjackings across the metro region are alarming. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department and Prince George’s County Police said carjackings involving teenagers are up 2 to 1 compared to adults.

RELATED: 'Playtime is over' | MPD Chief Robert Contee responds to a rise in carjackings

It’s why officials addressed the growing and disturbing trend in a joint news conference Wednesday with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

MPD Chief Robert Contee said his officers will be moving to the border of Prince George’s County. He said a number of carjackings start in D.C. and cross over into Prince George’s county and vice-versa.

Both Chiefs Contee and Malik Aziz of Prince George’s County said it’s going to take more than officers to stop these kids from stealing cars.

"This is not a spectator sport, everybody has a responsibility here. Community members have a responsibility, courts, judges, the police department, people who prosecute cases, all of us have a responsibility," Contee said.

In the meantime, neighbors in the H Street community of Northeast are the latest to feel on edge.

"Something needs to be done, I'm hoping when these people are caught they're severely punished."

The victim’s vehicle is a 2014 white 2 door Mercedes Benz C250 and was last seen with a Maryland tag of 2CT0713. 

Anyone who has information regarding this offense should take no action but call police at (202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the Department's test tip line at 50411. The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime committed in the District of Columbia

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