burglary arrest on the 2200 block of 1st St NW

First, see this tweet from yesterday:  ``phillipstutts‏ @phillipstutts -- @Bloomingdaledc #bloomingdaledc -failed break-in unit alley of Adams/W St NW. DCPD caught 3 Af-Am teens.Warned me rash of burglaries lately.``

Now see this message from Fifth District Commander Andy Solberg:

From: "Solberg, Andrew (MPD)"

To: "Fifth District (MPD-5D @ yahoogroups.com)"
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:52 PM
Subject: [MPD-5D] Another burglary arrest

Today at about 9:50 am, police were called about three young men trying to force open a window in the back of a house in the 2200 block of 1st St., NW .  The person who called 911 gave a good description of the young men and the direction they were headed when they left the house.

Our mountain bike officers, who have been deployed along both sides of North Capitol Street to combat recent burglaries, spotted one the men in the unit block of T St., NE , carrying a bag.  This man was stopped and later, based on information we developed with the help of 5D detectives, the man was arrested and charged with burglary.  Evidence was recovered from the man, and alert officers who were in the area checked trash cans along the route of travel and found additional items that had been taken from the burglary in a trash can in an alley.

I am proud of the work that Fifth District officers have done to arrest three men in two days for burglaries, but I want to tell the community that I believe that in today’s arrest, it was absolutely the call to 911 that allowed us to capture this man and make an arrest.

We ask that you call 911 whenever you see, hear, or believe that unusual or suspicious activity is taking place.  Do not confront persons you see, but retreat and call 911 and provide as much information as possible: clothing colors, physical descriptions with height and weight (or even a rough estimate at body build—short and heavy, muscular, tall and thin, etc.), hair color and length and style, any unusual characteristics you notice, direction of travel when you last saw him/them, and anything else that seems relevant.

Today’s burglary happened in the rear of a house that was open to the alley—i.e., no fence or garage, no gates, no deterrent factors, and it seems that the suspects were not afraid to commit this crime in the rear of a busy street at mid-morning in a wide-open area behind a house. 

We are working very hard to catch the persons who have been committing these burglaries, but I want to again ask for your help: call 911, please, when you think we should come and check things out.

Andy Solberg

Commander, 5D