D.C. police are investigating two robberies in which high school students were forced into cars. One of the students was kidnapped at gunpoint, police and a D.C. Council member said.
The first robbery happened about 9 a.m. Tuesday near Roosevelt High School in Petworth.
Three suspects pulled up in a car and two of them got out and forcibly took the victim's phone and shoes from him in the 4100 block of Georgia Avenue NW, according to a police report. They then forced the student into the car and drove off with him in the back seat.
The student was eventually able to escape when the suspects stopped the car on Delafield Place NW and ran off.
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About 10 a.m. Thursday, two suspects in a gray, four-door Honda drove up to a student near Coolidge High School on 5th Street NW in the Takoma area, police said.
One of the suspects got out, showed a handgun and ordered the victim to get inside the car. The suspects then drove the victim around while they took his phone and hoodie, the police report said. They eventually let him go.
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Police are asking anyone who can identify the suspect or car in that robbery to call 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411.
D.C. Council Member Janeese Lewis George said the thieves ordered the victims to unlock their phones before letting them go.
George called the robberies, “brazen and traumatizing crimes” that cannot be tolerated. She said she’s working with public safety agencies to improve safety and hold those targeting students accountable.
