By Brian Trompeter
Mere moments into the Vienna Town Council’s Jan. 30 meeting, officials addressed the No. 1 topic of concern: an extremely rare armed carjacking that had occurred two days earlier in a southeast Vienna residential area.
“It seems to me that there has been an uptick in criminal activity,” said Council member Nisha Patel. “We do not take this lightly at all . . . We have to keep in mind what is the most important thing in our town, and it is the safety of our residents. It comes first and foremost.”
Vienna Police Chief James Morris called the crime “completely unacceptable” and said the police department has been investigating it “pretty much nonstop since it happened.”
The carjacking victim walked into Vienna Police Headquarters on Jan. 28 around 30 minutes after the crime had occurred, Morris said. The victim had been driving on Park Street, S.E., near Moore Avenue, S.E., when his Mercedes sport-utility vehicle was rear-ended by a black Dodge Challenger.
The victim thought it merely had been an accident and had an exchange with the striking vehicles’ two occupants. But the suspects, described as black males, displayed a handgun, took the victim’s car and left the area, the police chief said. The victim was not injured during the incident, and no firearms were discharged.
The victim’s phone was in the stolen vehicle and town police began their search with a half-hour delay, Morris said.
“Using technology, we were very quickly able to track the car, even with the time delay,” he said. “We know it left the area immediately, we know it went out of Fairfax County, out of Virginia, into Washington, D.C. [and] into Maryland.”
Police had access to GPS and app tracking data and obtained assistance from the Prince George’s County police helicopter. Authorities tracked the vehicle to Baltimore and used technology to shut it off.
“The subjects got away, but the vehicle was recovered” by Baltimore police, Morris said. “We were down there today doing fingerprints [and] DNA, getting any evidence out of the vehicle and recovering it for the owner.”
Vienna police continue to investigate the crime and have begun obtaining recordings from video cameras that may have spotted the stolen Mercedes.
“There were two vehicles involved, so we’re trying to figure out where the other vehicle came from,” Morris said.
Police ask anyone with information related to this crime to call Master Police Officer Juan Vazquez at (703) 255-7845.
The Vienna Police Department in recent days has disseminated safety tips to help motorists avoid carjacking. Drivers should be aware of their surroundings when in garages and parking lots, at intersections with stop signs or traffic signals, on residential streets, driveways and other locations where they might need to stop or slow down.
Whenever possible, drivers should park in well-lighted areas, stay alert, keep off the telephone, keep vehicles’ doors and windows locked, and allow enough room between vehicles forward and aft to avoid being boxed in.
Motorists should keep their cell phones on them and not leave them in their vehicles. If their vehicles are bumped from behind and drivers are suspicious about the circumstances, they should turn on their emergency flashers, proceed to a well-lighted and heavily populated neighborhood and contact police.
If drivers have the misfortune of being carjacked, they should give up their vehicle, leave the scene, avoid physical or verbal confrontations with the suspect(s), note the description of the suspect(s), alert the carjacker(s) if there are any children in the vehicle and call 911 as soon as possible.
Vienna officials soon will begin offering the public quarterly “Mayor and Chief at Your Service” public-safety discussions with Mayor Linda Colbert and Chief Morris. The first will be held Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the community room at Vienna Police Headquarters, 215 Center St., S.
