Congressman's carjacking puts focus on continuing DC carjacking spike

While it gets more attention when a member of Congress is a carjacking victim, it is far from unique.

According to D.C. police reporting, when Rep. Henry Cuellar says he was carjacked Monday night, he became at least the 754th carjacking this year in D.C. in 2023. That is nearly three a day.

D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department reported 79 carjackings in September.  That's down from the highs over the summer, but still enough to be one of the worst months for carjackings in the District in the nearly six years D.C. police reported the stats.

There were more than twice as many carjackings in September 2023 as in September 2022. Comparing the past week, D.C. police reports nearly seven times as many as the same week last year.

According to police, the carjackers who allegedly took Cuellar’s car were armed; so are 75% of D.C. carjackers.

Cullar's alleged carjackers also haven'o't been caught, which the I-Team found is common as well. Of the 754 carjackings, D.C. police report just 113 arrests – roughly 15%.

Some of those suspects have been charged with more than one carjacking. D.C. police report 189 cased closed this year.

On Tuesday, Asst. Chief Carlos Heraud of MPD’s Investigative Services Bureau told reporters they are making progress in the fight against carjackings. He said the last 30-60 days show a drop in the number of incidents.

Many are committed by young people, but police don’t know why, Heraud said. Not a single juvenile has talked to police after an arrest, he said.

One thing he was clear on: He wants more help. He told reporters his bureau does not have enough officers.

“The chief’s asked for 4,000 officers … The mayor’s also asked for 4,000 officers,” he said. “You know what our staffing’s like. So, when you have an increase in cases and a decrease in numbers, it’s going to put a strain on detectives."

Months ago as the carjacking numbers started climbing, the News4 I-Team spoke with the head of D.C.’s Carjacking Task Force. At that time, Sgt. Valkyrie Barnes told News4 these cases are hard to solve as there is typically hours of video to go through, often times masked suspects, cars aren’t kept for long and she could use more help on the task force.

In Rep. Cuellar’s case, D.C. police will get help. The investigation is being handled by U.S. Capitol Police with help from the FBI.