A 19-year-old District man has swiftly entered a guilty plea for a forceful carjacking incident that shook a Northeast Washington neighborhood earlier this year. Antwan Mitchell, identified as a D.C. resident, admitted to his role in the February 6 carjacking, in which he, alongside unapprehended accomplices, victimized an unsuspecting rideshare driver, as announced by the U.S. Attorney's office.
According to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela A. Smith, Mitchell was arraigned in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he opted to plead guilty to the singe count of carjacking placed against him. The ordeal unfolded just as the rideshare driver had finished his fare in the 200 block of Kenilworth Avenue NE, where Mitchell and his cohorts launched their ill-conceived scheme.
At the plea hearing, the account of the crime was laid bare—Mitchell and his crew surrounded the driver, with a rifle brandished at close quarters by one of the assailants. The terrifying encounter led the driver to give up his vehicle and wallet. Mitchell and his unidentified partners in crime fled in the stolen SUV, leaving the driver in distress. In an almost poetic display of justice, however, MPD officers promptly discovered the stolen ride and, not long after, the second vehicle connected to the crime—leading to Mitchell's capture. Unfortunately, the accomplices continue to elude capture.
Mitchell faces his fate on August 5, when Judge Jason Park is scheduled to deliver the sentencing. The swift arrest illustrates the MPD's determination in eradicating such brazen acts from the city streets. The firearm, located in the second vehicle, stands as silent testimony to the potential for violence inherent in these confrontations. The Metropolitan Police Department's dedicated investigation and Assistant United States Attorney Sabena Auyeung's prosecution efforts are to be credited for bringing at least one perpetrator to reconcile with the law.
The full account of the plea and details surrounding the case have been made public on the U.S. Attorney's Office website.
