A District of Columbia man with a rap sheet of thefts is facing some serious time for pilfering from a local CVS. Melvin Dykes, 61, got slapped with an indictment for felony second-degree theft, according to U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and MPD Chief Pamela Smith.
The alleged incident, which Dykes was arrested for after MPD sleuthing, happened back on February 23 at a Northwest D.C. store. Having been previously convicted for similar misdemeanors, Dykes now stares down the barrel of a harsher punishment because of his past slip-ups with the law. Come April 30, Dykes will find out how heavy the gavel falls at his Superior Court arraignment.
According to the statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, second-degree theft becomes a heftier felony if the accused has prior convictions. His legal scoreboard reads two or more theft convictions, teeing him up for a mandatory minimum of a year per count.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has been busy, with the tally reaching 39 felony second-degree theft indictments since September last year. The MPD and the U.S. Attorney's Office joined forces to investigate this case, which is now in the hands of Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Cotter for prosecution.
