U.S. attorney partnering with D.C., Maryland county officials to prosecute carjackings
Source: Washington Post
The U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland has formed a regional task force to prosecute carjackings that span the District and the two Maryland counties that border it as crime rates in the area continue to spike.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jon Lenzner said that coordinating the efforts of prosecutors from D.C. and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties will help law enforcement deal with carjackers crisscrossing the region. Those who commit carjackings, Lenzner said, have been stealing cars in one place, driving them into other jurisdictions to take different cars and then ditching the second stolen cars in other neighboring locations.
“One challenge we are facing is the transient nature of these crimes,” Lenzner said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the task force. “We are tearing down the borders that carjackers use to conceal their trails of violence.”
In Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, carjackings doubled from 2019 to 2020, and that trend has continued in 2021. Carjackings are up in the District, too. At this time last year, officers in D.C. had investigated 52 carjackings. So far in 2021, they’ve investigated 129.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/washington-carjacking-prosecution-taskforce/2021/05/19/c0b7025e-b8bd-11eb-a6b1-81296da0339b_story.html
