A weekend disturbance outside the Astoria Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue turned into a weapons scare early Sunday, after police say a guest refused officers’ orders, drove off and left a car packed with guns and ammunition parked outside the luxury property.
The Metropolitan Police Department reports that officers were called to the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW around 7:30 a.m. for a disorderly guest. Hotel staff told officers the man had been causing a disturbance, then left the property. When he later returned in a different vehicle, police say they approached and asked him several times to step out. According to MPD, he refused and then drove away as officers tried to open the car door. A K-9 unit was brought in to search the vehicle he had left parked at the hotel, and officers recovered a firearm, a BB gun and multiple boxes of ammunition.
According to WJLA, hotel staff told police that two other guests connected to the room had already taken off in a taxi, and that the remaining man threatened to “sue the hotel” after learning the room bill had not been paid. The outlet reports that, per an MPD incident report, the man admitted he had firearms locked in a gun case inside the vehicle parked at the hotel and said the weapons were registered in Maryland.
Police account
The MPD report stated the man “admitted to officers that he had firearms locked in a gun case,” according to WJLA. Officers told the station they repeatedly ordered him to step out of the vehicle, but he refused. When they tried to open the door, he drove away. The car he had left parked at the hotel was later searched, and officers recovered the firearm, BB gun and ammunition described in the report, according to the station.
Where it happened
The incident unfolded outside the hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in the historic Old Post Office building, which now operates as the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, just steps from the White House and several downtown landmarks. The property sits on one of the city’s busiest stretches of Pennsylvania Avenue, a location that allowed officers and a K-9 unit to move in quickly, according to public information from the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC.
Investigation ongoing
MPD says the case remains under active investigation, and the suspect was still being sought as of Monday morning. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department’s tip line at (202) 727-9099 or send anonymous tips by text to 50411, per guidance from the MPD.
