Thieves stole the car of D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s girlfriend while she was pumping gas in southeast D.C. Wednesday morning.
The victim’s Mercedes was parked at a pump at the Exxon in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE about 7:15 a.m. when a red Lexus sedan pulled up next to it at another pump.
Surveillance video shows the passenger in the Lexus get out of the car and crouch down next to the driver’s side of the Mercedes. After a few seconds, the car thief got into the Mercedes, pushed the start button and drove away with the gas hose still attached to the gas tank.
The driver of the Lexus followed, and both cars headed east on Pennsylvania Avenue, police said.
The victim’s purse was in the car, but she had her wallet.
“I’m thankful for the many expressions of concern," Mendelson said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "It’s clear that the thieves have done this before. I will support the police in any way in order to catch these perpetrators so that they can not victimize anyone else.”
